Written answers

Thursday, 14 October 2021

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Sector

Photo of Paul KehoePaul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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226. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 392 of 3 September 2021, his views on whether there are forestry profession skills such as species selection, establishment practices, ongoing management and other specific operations particular to the growing of trees that should be inherent in any schemes run and administered by his Department to ensure optimum success, such schemes to include any new eco or environment schemes in the next CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50266/21]

Photo of Paul KehoePaul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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227. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 392 of 30 September 2021, his views on whether it is appropriate for unqualified persons in the forestry profession to advise farmers or other land-owners on forestry or tree related issues in schemes administered and run by his Department, such schemes to include new agri-environmental or eco schemes in the next CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50267/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 226 and 227 together.

All applications for the planting of forests and for support schemes such as Native Woodland Conservation Scheme under the National Forestry Programme must be submitted by a registered forester. The Department compiles a list of Registered Foresters once they meet the criteria for registration, which is to hold at a minimum, an ordinary bachelor’s degree in forestry, (National Framework of Qualifications Level 7). It is envisaged that the same condition would apply to schemes under the successor to the current Forestry Programme (extended to end 2022) which will be delivered entirely separately from the CAP Strategic Plan.

Under the Forestry Act 2014, a forest is defined as an area of at least 0.1 hectare in size and a tree crown cover of more than 20% of the total area, or the potential to achieve this cover at maturity.

In terms of Eco-Schemes, these are being proposed for the first time as part of the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and will be funded from within Pillar 1 of the CAP budget. Eco-schemes are mandatory for Member States but voluntary for farmers. From January 2023 onwards, for the duration of the next CAP, the Eco-Scheme will be implemented annually in Ireland, with active farmers having the opportunity to opt in or out on an annual basis. The purpose of this scheme is to provide additional direct income support to farmers for undertaking agricultural practices beneficial to the climate, environment and biodiversity. Farmers will be able to apply for the Eco-Scheme at the same time as their BISS application and it will not be mandatory for a farmer to engage an appropriately trained agricultural advisor to either apply for or comply with the Eco scheme.

Farmers can, of course, avail of the services of appropriately trained agricultural advisors or foresters in applying for or complying with the requirements of the Eco-scheme if they so wish.

With regard to the new multi-annual Agri-Environment Scheme which will also be included under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan, it is proposed that under this scheme farmers will have the option to plant trees and/or hedges. It is proposed that it will be mandatory for applicants to avail of the services of appropriately trained agricultural advisors in applying for and complying with the requirements of this scheme. It will also be open to scheme applicants to avail of additional professional services if they wish to do so.

Photo of Jackie CahillJackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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228. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to the most recent Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, if the Secretary General of his Department followed through on their commitment to discuss the issue of the requirement for planning permission on dead and dying ash crops as outlined in circular 5/2021 with their counterpart in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage specifically as to whether the Act took into consideration the fact that many ash crops are either dead, dying or rotting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50270/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Currently planning permission from the relevant Local Authority is required in many cases when 'replacing broadleaf high forest with conifer species'. This has introduced further difficulties for landowners wishing to clear their diseased ash plantations and replace them with other species.

Contact has been made between Department officials and their counterparts in Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage on this issue as outlined at the meeting with the Oireachtas Committee. We are exploring potential alternatives to the current system that requires both planning permission and a felling licence (or exemption from a felling licence).

My Department will update in due course on developments.

Photo of Jackie CahillJackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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229. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a dead tree or dead trees in either a farm or forest situation requires a tree felling licence, specifically in the case of the ash species; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50271/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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To fell a tree or trees without a valid tree felling licence, unless exempted, is an offence under the Forestry Act 2014. S.19 of the Act provides for exemptions whereby a tree felling licence may not be required. Tree felling carried out under the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS – Ash Dieback) does not require a tree felling licence.

The following are common scenarios where trees can be felled without the need to submit a felling licence application:

- A tree in an urban area.

- A tree within 30 metres of a building (other than a wall or temporary structure), but excluding any building built after the trees were planted.

- A tree less than five years of age that came about through natural regeneration and removed from a field as part of the normal maintenance of agricultural land (but not where the tree is standing in a hedgerow).

- A tree uprooted in a nursery for the purpose of transplantation.

- A tree of the willow or poplar species planted and maintained solely for fuel under a short rotation coppice.

- A tree outside a forest within 10 metres of a public road and which, in the opinion of the owner (being an opinion formed on reasonable grounds), is dangerous to person using the public road on account of its age or condition.

- A tree outside a forest, the removal of which is specified in a grant of planning permission.

- A tree outside a forest of the hawthorn or blackthorn species.

- A tree outside a forest in a hedgerow and felled for the purposes of its trimming provided that the tree does not exceed 20 cm in diameter when measured 1.3 metres from the ground.

- A tree outside a forest on an agricultural holding and removed by the owner for use on that holding, subject to certain conditions as outlined in the Forestry Act 2014

My colleague Minister of State Senator Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, recently launched a Guide for Landowners to Managing Roadside Trees. This informative Guide provides basic information on the benefits of such trees along with guidance on how to assess risk associated with roadside trees.

Supplementary Material

Section 19 of the Forestry Act, 2014

Exempted trees

19. (1) A tree—

(a) in an urban area,

(b) within 30 metres of a building (other than a wall or temporary structure), but excluding any building built after the trees were planted,

(c) that is, in the opinion of the Minister, required to be removed—

(i) to control or prevent the spread of fire or a pest or disease,

(ii) to protect the integrity of the forest gene pool,

(iii) for forest survey purposes, or

(iv) to mitigate a threat to a habitat or other important environmental resource,

(d) that is, in the opinion of the Minister, planted and managed solely for its foliage or for decorative purposes, such as Christmas trees,

(e) removed by a public authority in the performance of its statutory functions,

(f) that is, in the opinion of the planning authority, dangerous on account of its age, condition or location,

(g) that is, in the opinion of the emergency services, required to be removed, including in the aftermath of an accident,

(h) less than 5 years of age that came about through natural regeneration and removed from a field as part of the normal maintenance of agricultural land (but not where the tree is standing in a hedgerow),

(i) uprooted in a nursery for the purpose of transplantation,

(j) of the willow or poplar species planted and maintained solely for fuel under a short rotation coppice,

(k) removed by or with the permission of the Minister or Teagasc, as part of a demonstration or for scientific purposes,

(l) on land held or managed by the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for the purposes of the Wildlife Acts 1976 to 2012 and felled, uprooted or removed on his or her behalf,

(m) outside a forest—

(i) within 10 metres of a public road and which, in the opinion of the owner (being an opinion formed on reasonable grounds), is dangerous to persons using the public road on account of its age or condition,

(ii) the removal of which is specified in a grant of planning permission,

(iii) on an agricultural holding and removed by the owner for use on that holding, provided—

(I) it does not form part of a decorative avenue or ring of trees,

(II) its volume does not exceed 3 cubic metres, and

(III) the removal of it, by the owner for the foregoing purpose, when taken together with the removal of other such trees by the owner for that purpose, would not result in the total volume of trees, on that holding and removed by the owner for that purpose, exceeding 15 cubic metres in any period of 12 months,

(iv) of the hawthorn or blackthorn species, or

(v) in a hedgerow and felled for the purposes of its trimming, provided that the tree does not exceed 20 centimetres in diameter when measured 1.3 metres from the ground,

(n) in a burial ground maintained by a burial board or joint burial board under the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Acts 1878 to 2001 or the Local Government Acts 1925 to 2012, or

(o) of the apple, pear, plum or damson species, shall be an exempted tree.

(2) A tree—

(a) within the curtilage or attendant grounds of a protected structure under Chapter 1 of Part IV of the Act of 2000,

(b) within an area subject to a special amenity area order,

(c) within a landscape conservation area under section 204 of the Act of 2000,

(d) within—

(i) a monument or place recorded under section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994,

(ii) a historic monument or archaeological area entered in the Register of Historic Monuments under section 5 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1987, or

(iii) a national monument in the ownership or guardianship of the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 1994,

(e) within a European Site or a natural heritage area within the meaning of Regulation 2(1) of the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 477 of 2011), or

(f) which is more than 150 years old, shall not be an exempted tree, unless it is a tree to which—

(i) any of paragraphs (a) to (l), or paragraph (n), of subsection (1), or

(ii) subparagraph (i), (ii), (iv) or (v) of subsection (1)(m), applies.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as removing any restriction on the felling or removal of trees under—

(a) the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2013,

(b) the Wildlife Acts 1976 to 2000, and in particular section 40 of the Wildlife Act 1976, or

(c) any other enactment.

(4) In this section—

“public authority” does not include Coillte Teoranta;

“urban area” means any area that the Minister prescribes for the purposes of this section and an area that comprised a town or borough under the Local Government

Act 2001 before the amendment of that Act by the Local Government Reform Act 2014 may, without prejudice to the Minister’s power to prescribe an area comprising a

similar or greater conurbation for those purposes, be prescribed for the purposes of this definition.

Photo of Jackie CahillJackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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230. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will include similar metrics as are currently included for the afforestation, roads and felling licences for the ash dieback RUS scheme in the weekly dashboard from his Department from now on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50272/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The weekly dashboard is provided to give a short concise update on the licences issued for the week and month, along with other related information. As the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS - Ash Dieback) is not a forestry licensed scheme and as the Dashboard is already full we do not propose to include an update on it there.

I will, however, arrange for the publication of RUS metrics monthly on the Department's website in the same location as where we publish other forestry statistical information.

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