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

I will address amendments Nos. 7 and 9 together.

The purpose of defining an area threshold of 0.1 hectares is to ensure that the felling of small groups of trees is regulated by licence. To reduce the threshold further would result in the majority of trees within Ireland requiring a licence where felling is proposed. As stated previously on Committee Stage in the Dáil, this Bill is about striking an appropriate balance between protecting the national forest resource and allowing individual trees to be felled without a licence in certain circumstances. The removal of the facility to allow certain trees to be exempted from a felling licence would not provide an appropriate balance.

I would also point out that I have made a number of amendments to section 19 on Committee Stage in the Dáil which recognises the importance of certain types of individual trees which will now require a felling licence. These changes were put in place following a number of proposals from stakeholders and Deputies when the Bill was passing through the other House. While I recognise that I have not taken on board all proposed amendments I feel that an appropriate balance has been struck. I might further add that section 30(2)(c) in this Bill does allow for the list of exempted trees to be reviewed, which could result in the addition or removal of such trees in the future.

In addition, other legislative provisions allow tree preservation orders to be placed on individual trees by a local authorities where such trees have a particularly amenity, landscape or cultural value. On that basis, I do not propose to accept the amendments.