Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
3418. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average waiting time for a new felling, afforestation and roads forestry licences, respectively in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40682/21]
View answerResolving the licensing issues remains my main priority. June was the highest month for the issuing of private felling licences in over five years and included 226 private felling licences or an average rate of over 50 private felling licences a week. In total, the Department was issuing an average of 95 licences over the seven weeks up to the end of June which was a 50% increase on previous weeks this year.
Because of the recent introduction of a consultation period of 30 days for cases that are undergoing Appropriate Assessment, on foot of the European Union (Birds and Natural Habitats) (Amendment) Regulations S.I 293 of 2021, this rate of licence decisions has not been possible in July and will only show an upturn in mid-August. Continued high output will also depend on receiving good quality harvest plans from applicants and their agents and good quality Natura Impact Statements (NIS), where sought.
Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, we remain committed to issuing 4,500 licences this year, which is an increase of 75% on last year, and I am hopeful that we will meet this target.
The average time in months, for forestry licence decisions is given in the table below, which is for licences issued this year.
|
Forestry Licence Decisions |
2021 |
|
Afforestation |
10.0 |
|
Felling |
7.6 |
|
Roads |
9.2 |
