Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 November 2020
878. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an afforestation licence application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36181/20]
View answerAs you may be aware, there is a backlog of license applications that require an Appropriate Assessment (AA). My Department has put in place a detailed project plan for dealing with this backlog which includes recruitment of additional ecologists, forestry inspectors and administrative staff where required.
In this case, the licence application is waiting to be reviewed by a Department ecologist.
Submitting a Natura Impact Statement (NIS) for this licence would however significantly reduce the length of time it would take for the Department to complete the AA process for this application. On receipt of a satisfactory NIS, the length of time it would take to complete the appropriate process is estimated to be between 2 and 3 months.
If the applicant wishes to submit a NIS for this application, they should notify the Department by email to ecologyqueries@agriculture.gov.ie. A NIS is prepared at applicant’s own expense, by a suitably qualified person.
