Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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374. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the processing time for felling licence applications at each stage from submission to completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22956/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Over the last four years my Department has invested significantly in additional resources to address the increased complexity of licensing applications which has resulted from more stringent environmental requirements. These included investments in additional forestry inspectors, ecologist and administrative staff. We have also implemented changes to our systems and processes on foot of the recommendations contained in an independent end-to-end Systems and Processes Analysis.

As per the Farmers Charter, felling licences should be processed within 6 months or 26 weeks for screened-out applications (those not subject to Appropriate Assessment) and within 9 months or 39 weeks for screened-in applications (those subject to Appropriate Assessment). My Department is meeting the timelines set out in the Farmers Charter. A majority of felling applications are cleared within six months.

My Department has created a Forestry Licence Tracker to enable both Foresters and Applicants to monitor the progress of their Afforestation, Road or Felling application. The time taken in each step identified in the Tracker depends on a number of factors. Individual sensitivities on a file may lead to an increase in the complexity and time taken during the individual steps, particularly at Technical Review. However, my Department strives to exceed the timelines identified above.

The steps identified in the Tracker and used by my Department, applicants and foresters to monitor progress are as follows.

• Application Started. Registered forester has started the application but has not formally submitted to the Department.
• Application Submitted. This is when the application has been formally accepted by my Department.
• Public Consultation Published. My Department has completed its review of the application and it has been accepted as valid. 30-day public consultation has commenced. All applications must undergo a public consultation process which takes four weeks.
• Referred to Prescribed Body. My Department decides which public bodies should be consulted. This may take up to eight weeks to send the referral to the public body and receive a response. Any commentary received will be considered during the assessment of the application.
• Technical Review. Applications are assessed by my Department as required to ensure compliance with the scheme’s terms and conditions and any other relevant criteria. Submissions received during the initial public consultation period are considered also.
• 2nd Public Consultation Published. A second 30-day consultation period will commence after receipt of a Natura Impact Statement (NIS) or after an Appropriate Assessment Report is produced by the Department, and relevant documentation will be published on the Forestry License Viewer. If a NIS is submitted with the initial application only one public consultation period is required. It applies to files which are screened-in for Appropriate Assessment.
• Referred to Admin. If no further information is required, the assessment of the application is complete and a decision will issue asap. If further information is required Admin will contact the Registered forester.
• Decision. A decision is issued by my Department. Conditions will be attached to the licence which will be outlined in the decision letter and must be adhered to. The decision is published on the FLV.
• Appeal and Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) Decision – Any decision on a forestry licence may be appealed within 14 working days of a decision. If an appeal is received within the timeframe, the licence is suspended pending the outcome of the appeal.