Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their contributions on these amendments. What is being suggested here is already in place in practice. The chair of the forestry appeals committee selects people with specific expertise on environmental law and appeals. The current chairperson has significant experience and competence in matters relating to planning appeals. Again, we must remember that this Bill is not about afforestation or licensing but about the appeals process. We must keep coming back to what this legislation is about.

All members of the forestry appeals committee are required to operate in an independent and impartial manner and agriculture appeals officers appointed to the committee are so bound by the Agriculture Appeals Act. Members chosen to sit on the committee will bring a range of skills - they currently do and future members will - and their competencies will be suited to the role. It is open to the committee to seek expert advice.The committee can invite additional expertise to discuss particular appeals if it needs to, and that provision is already available to the committee. Many of the issues in these amendments are already the case with regard to the forestry appeals committee. With regard to An Taisce and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, they already input into the licensing stage, and that input is invaluable and it is good we have it.

To go back to forestry licensing decisions, they must take account of EU directives on the environment and they must be in full compliance with all appropriate assessments and EIA requirements. In making determinations on licences, the forestry appeals committee is determining that no errors were made in the issuing of the licence. That is its role. In circumstances where the forestry appeals committee decides to undertake a screening for, or conduct, an appropriate assessment or an EIA, it will need to have regard to the definitions of "screening for environmental impact assessment", "environmental impact assessment", "screening for appropriate assessment" and "appropriate assessment", which are provided for in section 14B(10)(b) to be inserted in the Act by section 4 of the Bill.

While I acknowledge and can understand the concerns of the Senators in regard to the independence of the forestry appeals committee and the people on that committee, I can assure them the forestry appeals committee operates independently of the Department and it has currently and will continue to have the required skillset to discharge its functions. With that in mind, I will not be accepting these amendments.