I propose to take Questions Nos. 499, 501 and 503 together.
The Agriculture Appeals Office which was established in 2002 in accordance with the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001, was assigned responsibility for implementing a new statutory appeals service for appeals against Department decisions on forestry licences in 2018. The Agriculture Appeals Office and the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) operate independently of my Department.
Since the Forestry Appeals Committee was established, the number of appeals has increased significantly year on year. In 2020 there were appeals against decisions on 582 licences submitted to the FAC compared to 311 appealed in 2019 and 150 in 2018.
Up to November 2020, there was one Committee hearing forestry appeals. With the introduction of new legislation in October 2020 which provides for sub-divisions of the FAC, an additional three divisions were set up and there are now four Committees hearing appeals each week. The FAC consists of internal and external members. All Agriculture Appeals Officers are members of the FAC. Additional resources were provided to the Agriculture Appeals Office in the 3rd quarter of 2020 to deal with the backlog of appeals and additional external members were appointed to serve as Deputy Chairpersons and ordinary members.
Prior to the introduction of the new legislation in October 2020, the FAC was hearing an average of 24 licences per month. Since the sub-divisions of the FAC were established, the FAC is now hearing on average 60 appeals per month. The FAC in consultation with the Agriculture Appeals Office is currently reviewing ways in which greater efficiency can be achieved across the four divisions of the FAC.
The following tables provide a breakdown of decisions since 1st October 2020;
Felling
The number of felling licence applications on hand in the Forestry Appeals Committee on 1st October 2020 was 315: 31 appeals were withdrawn and, since 1st October, the Committee reached a decision on 95 licence as follows;
|
Decision Status
|
Number of Licences
|
Hectares
|
|
Affirm
|
46
|
452.20
|
|
Set aside & remit
|
48
|
479.83
|
|
Vary
|
1
|
0.99
|
The current number of felling licences appealed to the FAC and awaiting a decision is 189.
Afforestation
The number of afforestation licence applications on hand in the Forestry Appeals Committee on 1st October was 116. Eight of the licence appeals have been withdrawn and, since 1st October, the Committee reached a decision on 18 licence appeals as follows;
|
Decision Status
|
Number of Licences
|
Hectares
|
|
Affirm
|
8
|
57.98
|
|
Set aside & remit
|
10
|
42.51
|
The current number of afforestation licences appealed to the FAC and awaiting a decision is 90
Forest Road
The number of forestry road licence applications on hand in the Forestry Appeals Committee on 1st October was 82. Two of these licence appeals have been withdrawn and, since 1st October, the Committee reached a decision on 6 licence appeals as follows;
|
Decision Status
|
Number of Licences
|
Metres
|
|
Affirm
|
3
|
1,119
|
|
Set aside & remit
|
2
|
525
|
|
Vary
|
1
|
400
|
The current number of forestry road licence appealed to the FAC and awaiting a decision is 74
