Vol. 557 No. 4
306 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the contact which has been made with his Department regarding the felling of trees for security reasons, particularly where US military forces are active, such as near Shannon Airport, where already hundreds of mature trees have been felled. [22615/02]
Shannon Development Company lodged a felling notice – application for a felling licence – on 19 September 2002 in respect of 30 trees at Shannon. The company stated that the reason for the proposed cutting down of trees was that they had been requested by Aer Rianta to remove the trees under the terms of the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1998. Section 46 of that Act provides that notwithstanding anything contained in the Forestry Acts, 1946 to 1988, Aer Rianta may remove any tree growing on land in the vicinity of a State airport which, in its opinion, interferes with the operation and development of that airport or which it considers obstructs or otherwise interferes with the safety or navigation of aircraft using that airport. On the basis of the information contained on the felling notice, my Department decided not to prohibit the felling of the trees.
