Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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475. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if Government policy will consider the felling of trees in close proximity to power lines to avoid future widescale power outages due to trees falling during red-alert storms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4075/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The recent storms have resulted in considerable hardship throughout the country. We are taking all possible steps to facilitate an appropriate response to allow forest owners to clear blown trees in a safe and sustainable manner.

As regards forestry and powerlines, the legislative provisions reside in section 98 of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1927, as amended by Section 45 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999. These allow the ESB and its representatives, taking due care and attention to avoid unnecessary damage, to lop or cut any tree, shrub or hedge which obstructs or interferes with laying or maintenance of electrical wires. Such works are a matter between the ESB and anyone acting on their behalf, and the landowner in question, and do not require a felling licence from my Department.

There are also in place long standing forest design requirements to protect the electricity network where it interacts with forestry land, at different scales of supply, and the protection of utilities is considered and applied during afforestation approval processes.

Section 7 of the Forestry Standards manual provides guidance on how to deal with ESB lines interacting with grant aided forest areas. This guidance was based on an agreement between the ESB and the IFA which defined corridor widths by powerline type and other requirements regarding access. These requirements are outlined in the Forestry Standards Manual.

One of the actions for my Department in the Programme for Government is to work collaboratively with the ESB to support and accelerate the timber and vegetation clearance programme and I am fully committed to this process. Contact has already been made with the ESB and we will aim to facilitate any mitigations or actions proposed by them in relation to the interaction of powerlines and forestry.

The Forestry Windblow Taskforce, which met last week and is meeting again today to provide help and guidance to forest owners in dealing with fallen trees, will so consider the question of powerlines and forestry.