Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

389. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 229 of 14 October 2021, if dead or dying trees require a tree felling licence; if dead or dying or rotting trees are not exempted trees and a farmer that fells an ash plantation without a felling licence will be subjected to the full legal rigours and implications of section 19 of the Forestry Act 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53875/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As I mentioned in Parliamentary Question No. 229 of 14^thOctober, 2021, to fell a tree or trees without a valid tree felling licence, unless exempted, is an offence under the Forestry Act.

I also provided common scenarios whereby trees can be felled without the need to submit a tree felling licence application. To be clear, if the felling of dead, dying or rotting trees within an Ash Plantation are part of an application for the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme for Ash Dieback, no application for a felling licence is required as these trees are dealt with within this Scheme and as such are exempted under s. 19(1)(c) of the Forestry Act, 2014.

In circumstances where no application is made under the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme for Ash Dieback, an applicant felling ash trees within a plantation must apply for a felling licence; if in such circumstances a licence is not applied for the regulatory provisions for non-compliance can apply, as provided for under Section 26 and Section 27 of the Forestry Act 2014.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

390. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of ecologists involved in processing the nine afforestation licences issued for week four of the October 2021 dashboard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53877/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Forestry licensing is a key priority for the Department. Afforestation is a key part of our plans and priorities for a number of areas including of course climate change and development of the rural economy. We are making significant progress on licensing output this year and are averaging 118 licences each week for the last 10 weeks. We expect to deliver 4,000 new licences this year.

Afforestation remains the one area where there has not been the licensing increase that we would like to see. This is now our main priority. We have a team of Forestry Inspectors, Ecologists, Archaeologists and administrative staff who are involved in licensing. We have 10 ecologists dedicated to afforestation licences now. Obviously licences vary in size, environmental impact and there is no one size fits all to their assessment.

As part of Project Woodland we are examining all options. This includes an end to end review of our systems and processes that is currently being carried out and a regulatory review is also about to start. This review will include an examination of experiences in other countries in licensing forestry activities and how they comply with EU legislation without experiencing the same issues that we have experienced in Ireland. And from this what lessons we can bring into our licensing systems.

While these initiatives are being developed, the Department continues to pursue continual improvement of our systems to help speed up the processing of licence applications.