Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. He referred to regulations outlining the grounds on which compensation will either be paid or not paid. However, the legislation specifically refers to the grounds on which an official may refuse an application for a licence. As stated earlier, these are the protection of the environment; the ensuring of good forestry practice - which is open to interpretation; the preservation of amenities - An Taisce could decide that an area of forestry is an amenity and should be preserved and could be successful in lobbying accordingly; public health or safety - this has often been used as an excuse for many organisations to do very little; protection from flooding; and preservation of water quality. In the context of the latter and as the Minister of State is aware, soil is often disturbed when trees are being cut down and this can have an effect on watercourses and an impact on water quality. In that context, we are all aware of the ongoing debate with regard to water basins. Every forestry is located close to a stream or some other watercourse, so there is going to be an impact.

The Minister of State indicated that the Attorney General has stated that compensation could be paid. I may be wrong but section 32(6) appears to run contrary to that and indicates that compensation will not be paid if a licence is refused on the basis of the grounds listed. I cannot identify the circumstances in which compensation might be paid because there is little scope for an application to be refused on grounds other than those contained in the subsection. If a licence is refused and even though the Attorney General has indicated otherwise, it would appear that the farmer involved will not be able to seek compensation. I am just trying to save people from being obliged to make trips to the High Court. If section 32(6) could be removed and replaced with a provision which states that the matter will be dealt with by means of regulation, that would be something. When the regulations are drafted, it will not be possible to cater for circumstances where compensation should be paid because the matter will already have been dealt with in primary legislation.