Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1245. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason bonds are so high for person's (details supplied) looking to install a forestry road; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37250/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The application referred to by the Deputy was withdrawn, as a further information request from 2019 was not replied to. Approval did not issue from my Department. The bond that the Deputy refers to was part of the planning permission that was granted by the Local Authority, and is a matter for that body.

Should the applicant involved wish to reapply for a road licence under the new Forestry Programme, this site would be subject to the single consent system which was introduced in the intervening years. My Department worked closely with the Department of Housing to bring an amendment to the Planning and Development Acts to facilitate a more efficient application process for forest roads. In February 2020, Section 8 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2018 was commenced and the Forestry (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations, 2020 (SI No. 39 of 2020), were signed. This legislation made provision for my Department to act as the single consent authority for applications for forest road works licences, where the forest road provides access to a public road (other than a national road) or there is material widening of an existing entrance. Forest owners wishing to carry out such works no longer require a grant of planning from their local authority.

The Forest Roads Single Consent system is supported by Government of Ireland documents Requirements for Forest Entrances from the Public Road, and the Technical Standard for the Design of Forest Entrances from the Public Road.

None of the aforementioned legislation, technical or administrative instruments contain or reference a requirement to pay bonds for forest road applications. These do not form conditions of forest road licence approvals.