Written answers

Tuesday, 19 November 2019

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Sector

Photo of Tony McLoughlinTony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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498. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a forestry application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47741/19]

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The person named submitted two applications for felling licences in June, 2019 The applicant has recently been requested to provide a harvest plan for one of the applications referenced, so no further processing on this application can take place until that is received. Both applications will be fully assessed under new Appropriate Assessment procedures which have been introduced on foot of recent changes in environmental regulations.

All forestry licence applications, including tree felling licences, must be carefully assessed by my Department to ensure that any potential impact on the surrounding environment is carefully considered. These new procedures have led to temporary disruption in terms of delivery times, but the actions now being taken will improve will improve the environmental sustainability of the process and will make for more timely decision-making in the future.

Photo of Tony McLoughlinTony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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499. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a forestry application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47742/19]

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Applications for the Afforestation Grant and Premium Scheme for the reference numbers provided, were submitted by the registered forester and acknowledged in March, 2019.Afforestation licence approvals for both applications issued to the applicant and their registered forester in August.

They were both appealed to the Forestry Appeals Committee, which is independent of my Department. The licences are currently suspended pending the outcomes of the appeals.

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