Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the point raised by Deputy Cahill about forestry, we are facing a particular difficulty. As a consequence of court rulings, both domestic and European, we have to effectively rebuild our licensing system. We have established an appeal system as well. I hope that the new licences that have been issued, and they are relatively recent in the context of the rebuilt licensing system that we have had to put in place, taking account of the rulings that were made in respect of court cases, are resilient enough to withstand challenge. I imagine the first of those will be considered imminently by the forestry appeals process shortly. It is an area of concern. We are very aware of it in the Department. It has caused significant problems for us in terms of the large numbers of licences, whether it be for afforestation, felling or forestry roads, being appealed by a very small number of people.