Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I cannot agree to amendment No. 34. The proposed amendment would limit the Minister's power to revoke an approval or a licence or loan only in circumstances where a breach of the approval or licence or loan occurs. It would prohibit the Minister from revoking an approval, licence or loan in circumstances where, for example, a licensed forestry operation is having unanticipated or unintended impacts on humans or habitats or protected species or where an approval, licence, or loan, is mistakenly issued by the Department. I must also stress that my proposed amendment to extend the licensing period from five up to ten years, must be balanced with the provision that a plan submitted in support of a licence application could be amended or revoked, particularly where circumstances change. If these provisions were not there, it would lead to licences in the main being of short duration which is not a desired outcome for either the forest owners or the Department. The Minister must have the power to revoke in those circumstances.

Section 18 section allows for the issuing of a felling licence with or without conditions. It also allows for conditions to be varied or suspension or revocation of a licence once issued. In the vast majority of cases these powers will not be required as forest owners will carry out felling in accordance with licences issued and no adverse impact will occur. However, in a small number of cases, there may be unintended consequences where harvesting activities licences for up to ten years into the future may have potential adverse impacts that were not foreseen. Examples of such impacts might include situation resulting from tree felling causing adverse damage to species such as freshwater pearl mussels. Other cases may include significant situation or a landslide affecting aquatic zones. In these cases, although extreme, suspensions of a licence may be the preferred choice to allow alternative options to be considered rather than complete revocation.

A number of stakeholders have raised concerns that this power to suspend or revoke licences creates uncertainty for forest owners. In order to provide assurances to forest owners I am introducing an amendment that states that there will be substantial grounds warranting a decision to vary conditions or to suspend or revoke a licence. The purpose of this section and amendment is to strike a balance by providing licences for felling activities over long periods of time but also to have the power to intervene in limited circumstances where required.