I propose to take Questions Nos. 517 to 519, inclusive, together.
While there was a decrease in Coillte licences issued in the period mentioned by the Deputy, work continued on a batch of 1,864 applications received from Coillte on 15 March 2021.
There is a significant amount of background work involved in the licensing process long before a licence issues and this work is currently ongoing. Pre-licensing work on these new applications began immediately with applications advertised and referrals made to District Forestry Inspectors and third parties such as County Councils.
Some preliminary screening also took place for Appropriate Assessment and all applications were successfully uploaded to the Forestry Licence Viewer, making them accessible to the public. We also used the opportunity to issue new licences that were remitted to the Department by FAC for a new decision. These are not counted as new licences in the weekly output to avoid double-counting.
“Coillte felling” is defined as all tree felling licence applications received in the name of Coillte CGA, while “private felling” is defined as all tree felling licence applications received from any other applicant. Coillte CGA makes applications for forest road works and non-grant aided afforestation licences on their own behalf and as an agent on behalf of other landowners. Where an application is made by Coillte as an agent on behalf of other landowners, the landowner is given as the applicant name. All Coillte felling files identified on the weekly dashboard are applications where Coillte is both the landowner and the applicant.