Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this very important issue. Many Members of both Houses have been raising it with me. Along with the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, who has direct responsibility for forestry, I brought a memo to Government earlier this week proposing a number of initiatives for the forestry sector with a particular emphasis on licensing issues. These initiatives implement some of the commitments in the programme for Government on forestry. Their early consideration reflects the importance we attach to that sector's contribution to our rural economy and to the Government's environmental priorities. On foot of this memo the Government has approved the drafting of an amendment to the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001 to align the forestry licensing and appeals process in the planning process. We have agreed the announcement of a new scheme for the creation of native woodlands on State and other public lands. We have agreed the appointment of an independent chair, to be identified, to lead the implementation of the McKinnon report and we have agreed to develop a portal to help enhance public participation in forestry decision-making. We have identified as a priority the drafting of legislation to align the licensing and appeals process and we are keen to get all stakeholder views on this in advance of its consideration by the Oireachtas after the summer. This draft Bill will be published on Friday and we encourage engagement by all stakeholders and by the public with these proposals before their presentation to the Oireachtas.

My Department is the planning and consenting authority for forestry licensing. The commencement of the Forestry Act 2014 in May 2017 brought about significant changes in the consent process for forestry operations. Licences are required for afforestation, forest road construction and for tree felling. All licences must be issued in compliance with EU and national environmental legislation. The Act also made provision for third party submissions and established the forestry appeals committee. Recent case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, and its subsequent interpretation by the High Court, as well as decisions by the forestry appeals committee and others have required my Department to introduce new appropriate assessment procedures for forestry licensing. Appropriate assessment, AA, procedures are site-specific analyses required under the EU Habitats Directive and must be completed before a licence can be issued. The assessment is to judge whether the proposed forestry operation will significantly impact any designated Natura site.

The changes now in process are very significant but unavoidable and have led to delays in the issuing of licences, as Deputy Moynihan has described, because most files now require second stage appropriate assessment. To give the House an idea of the scale, my Department received some 6,000 licence applications in 2019 between felling, afforestation and roads. Felling licences are now valid for up to ten years and may cover several felling events such as thinning and clear-felling on the same plot. Landowners considering future operations have the opportunity of applying for a tree felling licence well in advance of any operation taking place. Afforestation licences are valid for three years.

My Department is intensively engaging with all relevant stakeholders on these issues and one such meeting took place this morning. I accept the current changes to procedures are very significant. Their scope and breadth is such that they have been challenging to implement. This has unfortunately meant that the current backlog and slowdown in licensing has arisen. It has taken substantial resources and effort to introduce a robust and workable system which meets the legislative requirements. I believe we now have that in place. A large majority of our licensing decisions are being confirmed at the forestry appeals committee, which gives confidence to these revised procedures.

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