Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I warmly welcome Minister of State, Senator Hackett to the House. She is a frequent visitor and will be very much aware of the issue and challenges of the Commencement matter that I have tabled.

I live in a part of west Clare where there is a significant amount of forestry. The west Clare municipal district goes from the Burren down to Kilrush and there is much forestry in that area. There is also much forestry that is ready to be cut over the next couple of years.

The problem is when Coillte, for example, goes in and fells trees, unfortunately the roads, which are largely built on bog, are not able to handle the heavy goods vehicles that are transporting the timber. This has caused a major problem for people who live in the area, such as farmers and families who use the roads and the local authority. The issue is that the local authority could have resurfaced one of these roads. Coillte is then granted a licence to proceed to do its tree felling and to, essentially, wreck the road. There is no comeback for the local authority, whatsoever, in terms of compensation.

There are examples in Mayo where Coillte came in to the local council chamber and gave commitments in a specific area. That was because a councillor just kept highlighting the issue. Something similar happened in Kerry. Really and truly, we cannot have ad hocsolutions such as that. We need a proper plan to deal the reconstruction of these roads post-felling.I am proposing that if and when a licence is being issued to Coillte or any other party to fell trees, there would be a condition built into that licence for a before-and-after road condition survey to be carried out and there would be an agreement beforehand on the condition the road is in before the tree felling starts and on what condition it should be in when it finishes. To ensure that what exists now will exist after felling, there must be a commitment of funding, compensation or whatever word one wishes to use, and that commitment must be there in black and white. Perhaps the compensation could be lodged in an account and if the road is only in need of X amount of the money when the post-felling survey is done, that is all that would be used and the rest would be returned to the forestry operator.

There is an environmental issue here as well. We must ensure there are no difficulties. These State agencies and private companies have to work in tandem. We must ensure that everybody knows what is happening, what the protocols are and what is required of them, so that when Coillte and other operators are budgeting for the felling of trees they know they must build a compensation package into their budgets to restore the roads to the standard that existed before the exercise began. It is a very reasonable proposal. It came from the engineers at municipal district level in Clare County Council. It would solve a lot of problems and would ensure that the local authority funding provided for roads is used for the roads for which it is needed, not roads that are destroyed as a result of tree felling.

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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I thank Senator Conway for bringing forward this Commencement matter and giving me the opportunity to discuss some of the current arrangements relating to forest licensing and timber transport. Forestry plays a very important role in our rural economy and in climate change mitigation efforts and supports thousands of local rural jobs, directly and indirectly. Following recent improvements made to the forest licensing system, my Department issued 4,050 forestry licences last year, a 56% increase on 2020.

The increased supply of licences to the industry over the past 12 months has allowed processors to rebuild their inventories, putting them in a much better position to respond to fluctuating demand from customers and to build confidence about the future. We have worked hard to enable this. During 2020 and 2021, my Department undertook significant and difficult work to incorporate complex ecological, appropriate assessment and public consultation requirements into the current licensing system. With regard to roads, the Department is not seeking to involve detailed public road management issues within the current felling licensing processes. There are a number of safeguards and measures in place to protect the public road network, and good communications, planning and management are central to implementing these.

Currently, all applications involving clear-fell are referred directly to the relevant local authority for comment. Where felling licences are issued, once a licensee or the licensee's haulier has accessed the public road network, the safe use and prevention of damage to the road are seen as matters exclusively for the local roads authority, the county council, An Garda Síochána, and the licensee or the licensee's haulier. All this is guided by a publication entitled "A Good Practice Guide, Managing Timber Transport" and the road haulage of round timber code of practice 2017. These guides were prepared by the forest industry transport group, which included representatives from the stakeholders in timber transport, including the local authorities. The guides propose a preventative approach to many issues of concern. Adherence to the guides will generate solutions based on good communications, planning and management; optimum vehicle selection and-or procurement; and compliance with legislation and guidelines. My Department supports further practical measures aimed at protecting the public road network, including the provision of support for variable tyre pressure systems on timber transport vehicles and the use of optimal routing technology by operators.

Additional consultation and referrals with local authorities are provided for in the development of new forest roads and entrances. Following the introduction of the Forestry (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations, S.I. No. 39 of 2020, my Department now acts as the consent authority for applications for forest road works licences, where the forest road provides access to a public road other than a national road or there is material widening of an existing entrance. These amendment regulations are on foot of the commencement of section 8 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2018. Forest road projects that provide access to a national road still require planning permission from the relevant roads authority. For other road types, a mandatory standardised consultation process with the relevant roads authority is implemented.

To summarise, there is a strong need to ensure that the new requirements for consultation are implemented properly by all parties. Sufficient safeguards and measures exist to protect the public road network, and all stakeholders need to focus on the implementation of these to ensure that timber transport can be conducted sustainably on and off our public roads.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive reply. Frankly, however, I am disappointed that it is not stronger. I believe this is a problem. While proper communication, safeguards and so forth work in many places, there are areas where they do not work. Where is the penalty or the consequences when there is no proper communication? Are there situations where these companies are fined if they do not comply? What are the safeguards? What is the auditing of these organisations? Are they spot-checked? Are the local authorities communicated with post the tree felling to see if they are satisfied with the level of communication? I am told that certainly in parts of Clare the communication is practically non-existent and that the local authority executive and engineers have to chase it. They get word that this is happening and will not be told. There is no commencement date and they are chasing or essentially fire fighting, using money that should be used for local road improvement schemes, other local community roads, improving footpaths, disabled access, improving car parking and so forth. Unfortunately, too often too much money is spent cleaning up after these companies when they have completed their tree felling.

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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I accept the Senator's concerns. In parts of my constituency, roads are founded on peat as well and it is a problem for any transport, not just timber transport but also agricultural transport and movements. However, the management of public roads is outside the remit of my Department. We try to operate the licence consent and grant schemes and to improve the communication with the public roads networks and the roads authorities. Perhaps there is scope to explore how that communication is working - whether there is feedback, whether the local authorities are responding in an appropriate way and whether there is communication between the hauliers and the local authorities - but they should certainly be trying to adhere to the advice that comes with the code of practice relating to managing and moving timber. To be honest, we are going to have more movement of timber in the next decade and it is something that needs consideration.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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It might be necessary to put those guidelines into primary legislation.

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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Perhaps that is worth considering.