I propose to take Questions Nos. 433 and 435 together.
Under the Forestry Act, 2014, S.I. 191 of 2017, the replanting condition, and other statutory obligations, are determined as part of the granting of a felling licence. Any applicant, therefore, is obliged to have a replanting plan in place before the granting of a felling licence and it is not particular to the Native Woodland Conservation scheme to have a plan in place prior to the felling element of their application.
All applications received for the Native Woodland Conservation scheme are assessed based on the outlined criteria of the category for which they are applying and the terms and conditions of the scheme must be adhered to. Approvals for this Scheme have not yet started to issue following the recent agreement with the Commission of Ireland's Forest programme.
Under the Forestry programme 2023 – 2027, the Forest Strategy Implementation Plan, Intervention 7 (Climate Resilient Reforestation), Element 2 outlines the option for replacement of existing conifer stands at reforestation stage with the most appropriate native forest type(s) appropriate for that site, using the Native Woodland Scheme framework and the six scenarios outlined therein.
The strategy implementation plan can be found on my Departments website here: gov.ie - Forest Strategy Implementation Plan including the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 (www.gov.ie).
