Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 September 2022
636. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the Forestry Service has official policies regarding forest inspections and forestry application referrals for private and Coillte applications in the interest of transparency, impartiality and public trust; if so, if he will provide the details of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44523/22]
View answerThe Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine operates the same inspection and referral regime for Private and Coillte applicants as part of its system of consent for felling and road licences.
With regard to felling licences these inspections include site inspections which are carried out to ensure the details given on the application are verified on the ground. The inspection is also used to support the appropriate assessment screening process prior to licensing.
Pre-licence inspections involve checks to make sure that maps provided by the applicant are accurate and include all relevant aquatic zones and other water bodies and other relevant information. Forest road applications are also subject to a pre licence inspection regime and where a forest entrance is being constructed or materially widened there is a mandatory referral and consultation with the relevant Local Authority.
This process is independent of whether the applicant is Coillte or a private individual.
Post felling inspections are carried out to ensure that felling has been carried out in accordance with the conditions of the licence and replanting has taken place and the correct species has been planted and conditions of the licence have been met (e.g. ensuring that water protection measures are being implemented correctly including e.g.. installation of silt traps, set backs and exclusions zones in the case of water features.)
Referrals of felling and road applications are also carried out in the same way for Private and Coillte licences. Applications are sent to the same statutory referral bodies for both applicants. All applications, private and Coillte, are uploaded to the Forest Licence Viewer where they are available to the public, to send in submissions.
