Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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997. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of tree felling licences awaiting a decision that require a Natura Impact Statement. [8036/21]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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998. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of Natura Impact Statements requested from tree felling applicants by county in 2020, in tabular form. [8037/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 997 and 998 together.

The Deputy will be aware of the delays caused by changes to the licensing system which means that a significant number of cases now need ecological input to comply with environmental requirements. We are tackling these delays by means of a systematic project plan. We have invested heavily in resources including the recruitment of additional ecologists, forestry inspectorate and administrative staff, with extra resources to be added this year.

There are currently 1,890 files referred to our ecology team. Most files referred to Ecology will likely require an Appropriate Assessment. Without a detailed examination of each file referred to ecology it is difficult to give a precise number.

Of these, 1,123 are for tree felling licences from private landowners. Where files require an Appropriate Assessment, the Department is required to carry out an Appropriate Assessment Determination (AAD). This can be done by the Department itself carrying out an Appropriate Assessment Report to inform the AAD or by the applicant providing a Natura Impact Statement (NIS) to inform the AAD. The Department prioritises files where the applicant has provided an NIS.

When the NIS is received, it is assigned to an ecologist and is normally processed within two to three months of receipt. My Department has received a NIS from individual landowners for 120 tree felling applications since the establishment of the project to deal with the ecology backlog in July 2020, of which, 80 have been processed by the ecologists.

There are currently 39 felling applications assigned to ecologists for which a NIS has been received and which are being processed.

The following table shows a county breakdown of the 39 applications assigned to ecologists, for which a NIS has been received.

This table shows a county breakdown of the 1,123 tree felling licences awaiting assessment by an ecologist.