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Felling Licences Applications

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 December 2019

Tuesday, 10 December 2019

Ceisteanna (482, 483)

Carol Nolan

Ceist:

482. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for the delay for the renewal and extension of tree felling licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51484/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Carol Nolan

Ceist:

483. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if registered companies and sawmills involved in tree felling will be granted extended licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51485/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 482 and 483 together.

Tree felling licences issued under the Forestry Act, 2014 may have a duration of up to 10 years and may cover several operations, such as thinning followed by clear fell in later years. Licences issued under the Act may be extended for up to a further five years, beyond the initial validity period. Tree felling licences are issued for the benefit of the applicant i.e. the forest owner and not a forestry company or saw mill.

I accept that delays in issuing licences can impact forestry companies in terms of clear-fell and harvesting work and sawmills in terms of a supply of raw material. I acknowledge that changes made to internal Appropriate Assessment Procedures (AAP) has resulted in delays to many files, which is beyond my Department’s control.

Officials are obliged to implement changes to AAP that were required following important Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decisions and their subsequent interpretation by the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) and others. These changes have been implemented, but it will take time to work through the backlog created, while new procedures were developed.

All forestry licences issued by the Department undergo a legal consent process. Since 2017, all forestry licence applications received have been subject to a statutory public notification system and are subject to a statutory appeal system operated by the FAC.

Most appeals have been in connection with our Appropriate Assessment (AA) procedures. The Habitats Directive (Article 6.3) requires that where a plan or project is likely to have a significant effect on a Natura site, either individually or in-combination with other plans or projects, it must undergo an appropriate assessment of its implications for that Natura site.

AA procedures have been amended to introduce a robust and workable system which will address the issues now faced. Introducing this system involved the recruitment of additional ecological expertise and changes in procedures for the forestry inspectorate. Interviews are taking place for additional ecologists under a recently advertised competition. I expect the successful candidates will be deployed early in the new year. Forestry district inspectors have undergone training and are continuing to receive support in delivering the new procedures. A categorisation of files affected by these requirements is underway in order to best assess further action needed and by whom. Officials of my Department have met bilaterally with forestry companies, to examine the applications on hand and to assess their backlogs with a view to moving applications forward.

The Deputy should be aware that notwithstanding the above, my Department has issued over 3,900 tree felling licences so far this year.

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