Despite losing a costly legal battle with the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and its former president, Ian Marshall, over how the Department applied cross-compliance penalties, the case might not lead to any fundamental change in how DAERA operates.

On enquiry, a DAERA spokesman confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that it will not be reviewing any historic cases where a farmer was hit with a substantial fine on their direct payments as a result of an intentional breach of cross compliance.

“Although the judgment identified specific deficiencies in the decision taken in this particular case, it has confirmed the law as previously understood and applied by the Department,” the spokesman said.

Past cases

“Therefore, there is nothing from this judgment which indicates that the Department’s standard practice or approach is systematically flawed. In light of this, there is no reason to review past cases as a consequence of the judgment,” he said.

The Marshall case related to a pollution incident in a waterway linked to an effluent diverter on the farm.