Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 January 2022
224. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a company (details supplied) will be notified of the outcome of an appeal relating to an afforestation licence which was withdrawn pending the outcome of an appeal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3802/22]
View answerThe afforestation licence application to which the Deputy refers was originally decided in October, 2021. The decision was appealed to the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) and, upon their notification of the appeal to the Department, the licence was suspended, in accordance with the relevant process.
When the licence decision was examined, following the appeal, it was discovered that the Appropriate Assessment Report was not advertised and opened for public consultation, which is now mandatory. The licence decision was revoked, with a letter issued to both the licensee and their registered forester. As the decision was revoked, to permit the consultation process to be completed, the appeal was deemed invalid.
The afforestation licence application was opened for public consultation, during which two submissions were received.
The consultation is now closed and the application has been returned to the Department’s Ecology Unit to finalise the environmental assessment. I would expect a decision to issue in the two to three months, but this depends on the assessment of the submissions received and on there being nothing further outstanding.
The FAC is operationally independent of my Department and issues its own decisions on forestry licence appeals when the appeal is discharged.
