Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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331. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the position regarding the total number of tree preservation orders that are currently in place nationally; the number that were issued in the past five years, broken down by local authority area as designated under section 205 of the Planning and Development Act 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53483/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Detailed provisions in relation to the preservation of trees are set out in section 205 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Under these provisions, planning authorities may - where it appears to them to be expedient in the interests of amenity or the environment - make a tree preservation order (TPO) in respect of any tree, trees, group of trees or woodlands specified in the order. The principal effect of a TPO is to prohibit the cutting down, topping, lopping or wilful destruction of trees without the planning authority’s consent. The order can also require the owner and occupier of the land subject to the order to enter into an agreement with the planning authority to ensure the proper management of the tree, trees or woodland in question.

The development and oversight of the implementation of TPOs is a matter for the individual planning authority in whose functional area the relevant trees or woodland are located.

The specific information requested in relation to tree preservation orders is no longer collated by my Department. However, individual local authorities may compile information in this regard. Data on tree preservation orders which was collected for the years 1998 to 2012 is available on my Department's website at the following link:

gov.ie/en/service/9e4ee-get-planning-statistics/