Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2021
961. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 2021 of 24 March 2021, the reason forestry was deemed as industrial and not as a land use activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23888/21]
View answerThe State has had a licensing regime to control the felling of trees since 1928. It was first introduced to stop the indiscriminate felling of trees and to enable the Minister attach replanting conditions to any licence.
The EU Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive came into force in 1985, classifying initial afforestation, deforestation and the construction of private roads (including forestry roads) as projects with a potential to have significant effects on the environment and thus requiring an initial sub-threshold screening and/or a full EIA before any consent can be given.
The EU Habitats Directive came into force in 1992 requiring that where the mandatory initial screening of a project requiring consent determined it likely to have a significant impact on the conservation objectives of a Natura 2000 site, or the possibility could not be ruled out, before any consent is given a full Appropriate Assessment is undertaken.
Planning and Development Regulations 2001 (as amended) list afforestation, thinning, felling and replanting of trees and forest road construction as exempted developments. A recent SI (SI 45 of 2020) stated that this is because such development is subject to the consent of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Forestry Act 2014.
