Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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Following many phone calls and contacts, I am delighted to get the opportunity to raise this urgent matter with the Minister this evening. Many farmers, forestry contractors and sawmills operators are very concerned about the ongoing delays with tree felling applications. The capacity to fell trees if and when necessary is vital to farmers being able to maximise productivity and land use. There is serious concern among farmers, forestry contractors and landowners about the unacceptable delays in getting these felling licences. Many of the people affected have long-term investments and are frustrated by the ongoing delays. They cannot plan for the future because of the uncertainty.

As the Minister knows, the midlands region has already been badly hit with recent announcements of job losses in Bord na Móna. This time next year almost 2,000 jobs will be lost. I am calling on the Minister to act swiftly to ensure that this matter is brought to a head. We cannot be hit again with the loss of jobs in sawmills because obviously the farmers supply the raw material to the sawmills. They do not know if they will be able to keep on the same number of workers with the current delays. I ask the Minister to ensure that is dealt with as soon as possible. The midlands region would be hit again as well as many sawmills throughout the State.

How big is the backlog in felling licences applications and when will it be cleared? I understand that some of the delays in issuing these licences have been due to serial objectors. The legislation dealing with this matter needs to be changed. We cannot have serial objectors lodging objections, which are negatively impacting on farmers, contractors with significant investments, sawmills and local economies in rural communities. We need a mechanism to deal with that because we cannot jeopardise employment in rural counties.

I understand that there was some engagement last week between the stakeholders and the Department. What was the outcome of that? I also understand that the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, commissioned a review on the matter. What was the outcome of that review? Has any plan been drawn up as a result of it? I again appeal to the Minister to ensure that every action possible is taken to clear the backlog which will have a detrimental effect on rural communities and the rural economy.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Nolan for raising the issue of forestry licences and for her general support for the forestry sector. I am aware of the delays being experienced by applicants for licences. I would like to give some background to the issues.

All forestry licences issued by my Department are subject to public notification and consultation, and possible third-party appeal. As the planning body for forestry applications, we have an obligation to ensure that all licences are issued in accordance with relevant environmental legislation. The relevant legislation is subject to continual change as result of case law interpretation and our procedures must change in tandem. Furthermore, decisions are subject to appeal to the independent Forestry Appeals Committee. Some appellants have won appeals by challenging the Department's procedures. These cases have required the Department to change procedures involved in assessing forestry licence applications.

The appeals are connected to our appropriate assessment procedure. Article 6.3 of the habitats directive requires that where a plan or project is likely to have a significant effect on a Natura site, either individually or in combination with other plans or projects, it must undergo an appropriate assessment of its implications for that Natura site. The forestry inspectorate has been implementing an appropriate assessment procedure established in 2013. However, as the Forestry Appeals Committee has identified issues with the procedure and as recent European case law is interpreted within Irish courts, changes to the procedure have been made. My Department has taken a number of steps to help deal with these changes, including engaging the services of external environmental consultants to assist with the necessary revision of the appropriate assessment and the delivery of training for forestry inspectors. We are also recruiting additional ecologists to join our forestry inspectorate.

A major triage operation is also ongoing to categorise the large number of files currently on hand for consideration by the in-house ecology team. The purpose of this process is to categorise files for further action and to advance each to appropriate assessment determination stage using external ecological consultants.

Forestry licences continue to be issued, albeit at a slower rate than would be expected. However, it has been a good year overall for felling licences and to the end of November my Department had issued just over 4,000 tree felling licences, which is still higher than any previous year and is 10% higher than the total for last year. This week, for instance, we will issue around 100 felling licences.

The Forestry Appeals Committee is an independent body but I understand that it is now starting to hear appeals on cases on my Department's new procedures. We keep the resources of the Forestry Appeals Committee under review in the event that additional resources are needed.

I am fully aware that this situation is causing difficulties, especially for landowners and forestry contractors. I appreciate that whether it is for afforestation, forestry roads, thinning licences or clear-fell, licensing has implications throughout the supply chain. I assure the House that departmental officials are actively working towards alleviating the current temporary disruption. I believe the robust and workable system now being put in place will result in an improved licensing system of benefit to all stakeholders.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his response. The whole appropriate assessment procedure sounds extremely bureaucratic and long-drawn out. Can any intervention be made to try to shorten that process? Other jurisdictions, including the North, have a different system with a shorter waiting period. To the best of my knowledge the Department makes the decision. Is there any way for this process to be looked at? How long will it take to clear the backlog? I again stress that it is urgent. I hope the Minister will make an appropriate intervention to try to deal with the matter.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I have attended a number of meetings involving departmental officials and various stakeholders. The Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, who has lead responsibility in the forestry sector, is daily involved in trying to bring together all the threads to find resolution to the issue. It is a complicated matter that is further complicated by case law which has effectively meant we have had to rebuild our licensing system to take account of the successful challenges either at Forestry Appeals Committee level or in the courts, whether domestic or European. We have had to take into consideration domestic court rulings, European Court of Justice rulings and Forestry Appeals Committee results in rebuilding a licensing system that we believe is now sufficiently robust. The ultimate determination of that will be in the current consideration by the Forestry Appeals Committee of the licences that have been issued under the new regime. We expect results from that imminently.

This is a complex area and I wish there were a simple solution to it. Regrettably complex issues sometimes require complex solutions. It involves appropriate assessments. It is a system somewhat similar to the system for aquaculture licensing, with which the Department has experience. It involves the same principle of appropriate assessments, Natura sites, etc. We have some experience in the area and it is complicated. We are recruiting additional staff in the ecological services area to assist with the processing of those licences.

I appreciate the independence of the Forestry Appeals Committee. Should we get successful outcomes imminently from the consideration of current licences, we will have a clear pathway to finding a resolution and having confidence that the system we have rebuilt is sufficiently robust. It will then be a question of getting as many appeals through the forestry appeals procedure as possible. We are acutely aware of this issue on which we have engaged with all the stakeholders along the supply chain. Given our targets with regard to afforestation and climate change, we want to deal with afforestation, road building, thinning and clear-felling. Forestry employs a large number of people, including private contractors and those working in sawmills. It is a very important industry in rural Ireland and we are doing everything to resolve the issue. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.