15N.—(1) A master who is—

(a) an Irish citizen to whom points are proposed to be assigned in accordance with section 15I(3), or

(b) a national of another Member State, in respect of whom it is proposed to make a notification under section 15I(4),

may appeal to the Appeals Officer, not later than 30 working days from the date of the notification referred to in section 15I(1) in respect of the proposal—

(i) to assign points to him or her, or

(ii) to notify the competent authority of the Member State of which he or she is a national,

as the case may be.

(2) An appeal shall—

(a) be made by the master,

(b) be made in writing, and

(c) be accompanied by a statement of grounds relied on by the master concerned.

(3) The Appeals Officer shall, if so requested by a master who has made an appeal, hold an oral hearing for the purposes of the appeal.

(4) A request by a party for any oral hearing shall be made in writing to the Appeals Officer not later than 30 working days from the date of the notification of the proposal by the Authority under section 15I(1)—

(a) to assign points to him or her, or

(b) to notify the Member State of which the master concerned is a national.

(5) An oral hearing shall not be held if the request referred to in subsection (4) is received later than the time specified in that subsection.

(6) The Appeals Officer may request that extra information with regard to the subject matter of the appeal be provided by the Authority or a master and, in any case, not later than 20 working days after receiving the request, the Authority or master, as the case may be, shall provide the information.

(7) The Appeals Officer shall arrange his or her business as he or she sees fit and may set down the procedures to be followed in respect of the conduct and consideration of appeals.

(8) The Authority shall provide all reasonable facilities and services as may be required by the Appeals Officer for the performance of his or her functions.

(9) The Appeals Officer may, where an appeal is made by a master—

(a) confirm that points shall be assigned to the master concerned or that notification be made to the Member State of which the master concerned is a national, as the case may be, or

(b) find in favour of the master, in which event—

(i) in the case of a master who is an Irish citizen, points shall not be assigned and a notification shall not be made under section 151(3), or

(ii) in the case of a master that is a national of another Member State, a notification under section 15I(4) shall not be made.

(10) The Appeals Officer shall confirm that points shall be assigned to the master or that notification be made to the Member State of which the master concerned is a national, as the case may be, under subsection (9)(a) where on the balance of probabilities, the Appeals Officer considers that the alleged serious infringement in respect of which it is proposed to assign points or notify the competent authority of the Member State—

(a) did occur,

(b) involved a serious infringement, and

(c) did involve the sea-fishing boat of which the master concerned was master at the time of the serious infringement.

(11) Subject to subsection (12), an Appeals Officer shall make a decision in relation to an appeal not later than 45 working days from the date of receipt of the appeal by him or her under subsection (1).

(12) In exceptional circumstances, the Appeals Officer may take not more than 15 working days in addition to the number of days mentioned in subsection (11) to make a decision.

(13) The Appeals Officer shall notify the master concerned, and the Authority, in writing of his or her decision and the reasons for it and the decision or reasons for the decision may be published on a website maintained by the Authority.

(14) The Authority or the master concerned may apply to the High Court on a point of law regarding a decision of the Appeals Officer.

(15) An application to the High Court under subsection (14) shall be made not later than 28 days after the notification to the parties of the decision of the Appeals Officer under subsection (13).

(16) In this section "appeal" means an appeal under this section.]