Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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927. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 513 of 21 January 2021, if it is his Department's policy not to facilitate applicants in this particular category; if the forestry in question is likely to be harvested in the normal way in view of its maturity and the shortage of timber and timber products and the applicant does not have the means to fund a Natura impact statement, NIS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5143/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Applicants for forestry licences, where an examination of the application by an ecologist is awaited, have a choice of either providing a Natura Impact Statement (NIS) or waiting for the Ecology Unit of my Department to prepare their own Appropriate Assessment Report and Determination.

This application will be dealt with in due course. However, the provision of an NIS at the applicant’s own expense can reduce the timeframe for completion of the ecological assessment from more than nine months (at a minimum) to two to three months. 

I must advise the Deputy that the applicant must wait for a decision to issue on their application for a tree felling licence, as it is an offence to fell trees without a valid tree felling licence.