Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 December 2020
196. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether it is appropriate that An Taisce is appealing applications for forestry licences in view of the ongoing crisis in the forestry and timber sector rather than consulting directly with his Department and in view of the fact that An Taisce receives significant public funding. [40679/20]
View answer197. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of days each of the four divisions of the Forestry Appeals Committee is sitting; the number of hearings each division has heard since it has operated in four divisions since 9 November 2020; the number of hearings each division will hold between now and the end of 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40674/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 196 and 197 together.
The FAC is independent of my Department and reports separately on its output on its own website. The information below has been sourced from the FAC.
With the introduction of the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 on 7th October 2020, four sub-divisions of the FAC have been established to deal with appeals in an increase from the previous single Committee. The three additional divisions commenced hearing cases on Monday 9th November 2020. All four committees are currently hearing appeals remotely due to Covid-19 restrictions and the hearings are conducted five days per week.
The FAC hear both oral and non-oral hearing appeals and since the introduction of the additional committees, sixty-one cases have been heard with a further forty-two hearings scheduled to take place in December.
The following table outlines the position:
|
Committee No |
Number of Days Sitting |
Number of hearings assessed since 9th of November |
Number of Hearings Scheduled until 31/12/2020 |
|
Committee 1 |
2 |
24 |
16 |
|
Committee 2 |
1 |
12 |
8 |
|
Committee 3 |
1 |
12 |
8 |
|
Committee 4 |
1 |
13 |
10 |
With regard to appeals by An Taisce, the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) is operationally independent of my Department and therefore has sole discretion on the validity of any appeal received. Similarly, it is open to any individual or group in the state to submit an appeal.
