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

Regarding amendment No. 68, a number of stakeholders in submissions have stated that the duration of a felling licence should extend beyond five years and questioned the need to apply for an extension. I have considered the submissions made by the stakeholders and I am tabling an amendment to increase the duration of a felling licence from five to ten years. The Bill will still allow for further extensions of up to five years in effect providing the possibility to have a licence for a period of 15 years in total. That will allow a number of thinning operations to take place. This is a significant change to the Bill and will provide greater flexibility for forest owners to carry out multiple harvesting events over a longer period in accordance with good forest practice. I am also conscious of the need to strike a balance between long-term forest management and the need for sufficient safeguards to cater for a change in environmental circumstances. Other sections of the Bill, such as section 7(2), provide these safeguards. In extreme cases a licence could be suspended where unforeseen circumstances have occurred, for example, a large siltation event impacting negatively on a water course. However, as I have stated previously, forest owners who require the flexibility to manage their forest over a long period would need to adopt changes if required. I believe the provision in this Bill provides these safeguards to allow felling licence duration to be extended as proposed.

All forestry harvesting operations, including thinning, have the capacity to cause significant environmental damage and some level of control over such activities must be in place. I believe my amendment to this section allowing the Minister to issue a felling licence for up to ten years is fair. In addition, the provision of licences for thinning and clearfell will facilitate growers in forest certification and other traceability systems. I therefore reject amendment No. 69.