Results 2,701-2,720 of 7,788 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes, I was listening.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: My understanding was that the Department was going to run what was for commercial and sawmills separately to the numbers we get weekly on the forestry dashboard and that it would not be included in the 7,000 ha.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: My next question is for Mr. Collins. How many ecologists deal directly with afforestation?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Dealing with afforestation?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: There are 20 ecologists.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Will Mr. Collins educate me on something? Are they doing half an application per week when the number is ten or 12?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Are there 20 or nine?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Right.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I watch the forestry dashboard weekly and it is very helpful. Do ecologists work on one licence per week? I look at the figures, which could be nine or 13. Is this the output?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Would the Department class it as low output to have one file per person per week? Planners have to deal with special areas of conservation and other legislation. I watch the planners in Galway. In fairness they pump them out. They have to go through various regulations and European legislation. Is there a blockage somewhere? What is wrong?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I want to come back to Mr. Delany on this. On its website in 2012 the forestry service stated it was fully compliant with the habitats directive. The legislation on the habitats directive has not changed since. I have watched it more than anyone. I know the blockages. It is the bane of our lives but many people were for it. I know there have been court cases. If it was being...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I was contacted by farming organisations during the week with regard to the new document being published next month. People have seen a draft; I have not. My understanding, and the Minister of State has alluded to it with regard to the habitats directive and various environmental regulations, is that there will not be a lot of change in getting opinions or a fast-track system because of the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Mr. Delany has seen it I presume.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: What is Mr. Delany's view on the draft? I am not asking about the final document.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I want to put it back to Mr. Delany that the senior inspector is the first person involved in getting an application. Mr. Collins will be familiar with this. If an ecologist screened in or screened out something at the beginning where an inspector is not covered because he or she does not have the qualifications, would that speed up the process?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: If I am not qualified at something how can I screen it if I must then go into court?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: To call a spade a spade, if I bring the Department to court for making a decision and the person who made the decision is not a qualified ecologist it will not stand up. This is where we were beaten previously.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: Files cannot be screened out at the beginning to speed up the process.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: There have been 186 out of 608 ash dieback reconstitution and underplanting scheme applications processed. What is the delay with them?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I listened to what the Minister of State said about the problems in environmental law. It is sad to say that farmers who were interested in planting have gone away from it because of a failure in the Department for seven or eight years, and that is the reality. Unfortunately, from what Mr. Delany said about environmental law and the different situations, and he tried to take the positive...