Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed)

10:55 am

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Obviously the conditions being imposed are positive, but the point of the amendment is that there are trees that could be felled but should not be, which fall outside these conditions.

I take the Minister of State's point that the matter can be a bit subjective, although not on the ecological front. Areas such as historical and landscape significance can have a subjective element. I feel - and I suspect that the Environmental Pillar people will feel the same - that there needs to be a little bit more than the criteria proposed in the amendment, which refers to the curtilage of a protected structure, a special amenity area or a conservation area. I support the amendment but suggest that additional criteria should be included to provide protections against trees being cut down that should not be cut down.