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

Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act empowers the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to issue guidelines to planning authorities, who must have regard to these guidelines in the performance of their functions. I assume the intention of the amendment is to empower the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to issue binding requirements on those involved in the forestry sector. This is already catered for in section 7(1) of the Bill, which empowers the Minister to attach binding conditions to any licence or grant given under the relevant statutory provisions. Such conditions can include, among other things, compliance with any guidelines, code of practice or standards for good forest practice produced by the Minister under section 6(d). These conditions are applicable to both public and private owners. Therefore, the matter is already sufficiently covered in the Bill and I do not propose to accept the amendment.

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