Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 December 2023
280. Deputy Richard O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the Interim Standard for Felling and Reforestation - version October 2019, issued by his Department, is the current relevant standard for forestry felling operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54321/23]
View answerThe ‘Standards for Felling and Reforestation’ document was circulated to the forestry sector in October 2019. These Standards immediately replaced measures relating to tree felling, as set out in the previous ‘Forest Harvesting & the Environment Guidelines’ originally published in 2000. The 2019 ‘Standards for Felling and Reforestation’ document remains in place, setting out mandatory measures that apply to all felling (thinning and clearfelling) and reforestation projects on all sites throughout Ireland, undertaken under a tree felling licence issued by the Department under the Forestry Regulations, 2017 (S.I. No. 191/2017).
Furthermore, the ‘Project Woodland: Regulatory Review Report’ published by solicitors Philip Lee LLP in June 2022, following its review of forest regulation, recommended the adoption of standardised conditions and generally binding rules, with the objective of “ensuring consistency, clarity, and a streamlined approach to drafting and determining licences.”
My Department is currently looking at standardising, as far as possible, felling licence conditions where this meets the above objective regarding consistency and clarity, and this process will feed into the updating of the ‘Standards for Felling and Reforestation.’
My Department will undertake consultation regarding this process with all stakeholders in due course.
