By Eoin Marsh
The High Court has dismissed the Minister for Agriculture’s attempt to judicially review a District Court ruling which annulled animal-health and food-hygiene notices served on John Fitzgerald’s duck egg business after a suspected Salmonella Hessarek outbreak.
The notices were issued on August 1 and 2, 2024. Fitzgerald appealed both to the District Court, where Judge Catherine Hayden heard evidence over two days from Department officials, scientists, a senior veterinary witness, Fitzgerald and his expert.
In December 2025, the District Court annulled both notices. It found that sampling at the farm had fallen far short of Department standard operating procedures, citing issues including protective equipment, gloves, overboots, handwashing and the samplers’ familiarity with the procedures.
The court did not find that cross-contamination had actually occurred. Instead, it held that deficiencies in the sampling process raised questions about the reliability of the resulting evidence, despite describing the whole-genome sequencing evidence as persuasive.
The Minister appealed that decision to the Circuit Court on December 17, 2025. He also later brought judicial review proceedings in the High Court, where an interim stay temporarily prevented the District Court annulment from taking effect.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons held that the Circuit Court appeal was the proper route. Unlike judicial review, which examines legality rather than rehearing the merits, the Circuit Court can reconsider witnesses, factual findings, sampling procedures and the legal consequences of any non-compliance.
The judge found that the appeal could resolve the entire dispute in one process and at substantially lower cost. He also noted that the Minister had not asked the Circuit Court for a stay or expedited hearing before commencing the High Court case.
The judicial review was therefore dismissed without the High Court deciding whether the District Court’s legal analysis was correct. All High Court interim orders, including the stay, were to be discharged.
The Minister’s Circuit Court appeal remains pending. Simons J’s provisional view was that Fitzgerald should receive his High Court costs.