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

With regard to amendment No. 23, the exclusion from the felling licence system of trees in urban areas does not involve any change of policy on the part of the Department. It is a continuation of the position that pertains with the 1946 Forestry Act. The rationale for exempting trees within urban areas is primarily based on public safety concerns, which remain valid in the context of this Bill. It is open to local authorities to place tree preservation orders on individual trees or groups of trees which it considers worthy of preservation for amenity or environmental reasons, including veteran trees. The experience generally is that people are responsible for and protective of trees within their communities and there is no evidence of widespread abuse of this provision. Similarly, the purpose of having an exemption from the felling licensing system for trees within 30 m of a building is health and safety; again, it is a continuation of the position that pertains under the 1946 Act. If a tree adjacent to a building is in a dangerous condition, immediate steps must be taken to remove the risk to life and property. In such cases, it would be totally irresponsible to require an application for a licence before removing the tree.
With regard to amendment No. 24,although the Bill vests responsibility for licensing of tree felling in the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, there are cases where other public and State authorities, in the performance of their statutory functions, must be empowered to remove trees without having to obtain a felling licence from this Department. It is important to stress that the exemption only applies to cases where they are performing those statutory functions. In this context, it is also important to point out that for the purpose of this provision, Coillte Teoranta is not regarded as a public authority and must apply for a license when felling trees.
With regard to amendment No. 25, in the case of the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the exemption relates to lands held or managed on his or her behalf for the purposes of the Wildlife Acts. To require a felling licence in such cases would be an unnecessary imposition on a body which is charged with the protection of flora and fauna on those lands, the achievement of which may, in whole or in part, require the removal of trees. With regard to amendment No. 26, I do not believe it is either practical or advisable for landowners to first obtain the opinion of the local authority or the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which I presume is what is meant by the national heritage authority, before dealing with trees which have become dangerous to users of the public roads because of their age, condition or due to ground stability.

Senators will recall that during the storms earlier this year trees and branches fell onto public roads throughout the country. This provision is intended to allow land-holders or owners to respond to such occurrences in a timely manner without the requirement to first apply for a felling licence or to wait for an inspection from a local authority roads engineer.

I do not believe that the exemption will lead to the widespread felling of roadside trees. However, in response to concerns raised by stakeholders to the effect that the exemption was too broad and could lead to widescale removal of trees, I made an amendment on Report Stage in the Dáil imposing an additional requirement on landowners to ensure that only trees they reasonably consider to pose a threat to public safety on the grounds of their age and condition can be removed without a licence. The provision is intended to supplement but not replace section 70 of the Roads Act 1993, which already allows a local authority, in its capacity as a road authority, to serve a notice on a landowner requiring him or her to fell, cut, lop, trim or remove roadside trees it deems hazardous or a potential hazard.

Senator Barrett has also tabled amendment No. 27. The purpose of the exemption contained in section 19(1)(m)(ii) is to regularise a situation that many people have unfairly found themselves in whereby they have applied to a local authority in good faith for planning permission to build, for example, a dwelling house, the construction of which involved the removal of one or two trees. In many cases, the permission came with conditions requiring the replanting of a greater number of trees for landscaping or screening purposes and only later have they discovered, as they were about to begin construction works, that they also needed a felling licence for something for which they sincerely believed they had already received comprehensive approval from the State.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh has tabled amendment No. 28. The protection of hedgerows of historical, ecological or landscape significance was raised during consultations with environmental stakeholders. I introduced amendments on Committee and Report Stages in the Dáil to address some of these concerns in so far as it is practical and appropriate to the Forestry Bill. These amendments are reflected in section 19(2) and extend protection for certain classes of trees. However, the Bill is not about regulating the alteration or removal of hedgerows in general. The Wildlife Acts and the Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) Regulations 2011 deal with this issue. Furthermore, there is no national register of hedgerows that are deemed to be of historical, ecological or landscape significance. In the absence of such a register it would be up to the landowners to decide if a tree was in a hedgerow of historical, ecological or landscape significance and to determine if a felling licence is required to cut or remove a tree, and this is highly subjective. Accordingly, I cannot accept the amendment.