Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
2115. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine with reference to Forest Service Circular 14 of 2019, Interim Standards for Felling and Reforestation, the reason the interim standard has not been reviewed; when a second version of the standard, which was due to issue in December 2019, will actually issue; when a consultation will take place on the interim standards; and when this will be a public consultation. [42656/22]
View answer‘Standards for Felling and Reforestation’ were circulated to the sector in October 2019. These Standards immediately replaced measures relating to felling set out in the existing standards ‘Forest Harvesting & the Environment Guidelines (2000)’. The ‘Standards for Felling and Reforestation’ from October 2019 is still the current document today.
This standards document sets out the standards that apply to all felling (thinning and clearfelling) and reforestation projects on all sites throughout Ireland, undertaken under a felling licence issued by the Department under the Forestry Regulations, 2017 (S.I. No. 191/2017).
The Department is committed to updating this document and under the ‘Implementation of the Mackinnon Report’, the updating of Forest Standard documents is a key deliverable. The Standards for Felling and Reforestation is one such document and an appropriate consultation process will be put in place.
Furthermore, in June 2022 Philip Lee published their ‘Project Woodland Regulatory Review Report’. This report recommends adopting standardised conditions and generally binding rules. This recommendation is made with the “objective of ensuring consistency, clarity, and a streamlined approach to drafting and determining licences.”
The Project Board of Project Woodland are examining this Report with a view to recommending appropriate actions for my Department to pursue. Following this my Department will publish a plan of action in relation to the Philip Lee report.
