Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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965. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when an application for forestry approval by a person (details supplied) in County Mayo was received; and the details of each stage this application went through following receipt of this application. [20469/20]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Applications for forestry licences are processed under a formal consent system and every application must be carefully assessed for its potential impact on the surrounding countryside and environment. The application for afforestation by the person named is near to some designated sites and potential impacts on those sites must be considered.  In this respect, the person named submitted a Natura Impact Statement on 16^thJuly, 2020. 

In line with my Department's policy for those who submit a NIS, the file is now being given priority and has been returned to the Ecology Unit, where the NIS will be considered as part of the entire application under Appropriate Assessment (AA) procedures.  When the AA is complete, it will be returned to the Forestry District Inspector who will complete his assessment of the application.