Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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159. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government when the proposed forestry legislation that he is intending to introduce on forestry corridors along overhead electricity infrastructure will be ready; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21010/26]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025 is being progressed by my Department as part of a wider programme of work to strengthen the resilience of Ireland’s electricity network in the context of climate change and increasingly severe storm events. A central objective of the Bill is to support enhanced storm preparedness through improved management of the interaction between forestry and the electricity network. Local communities cannot be expected to endure major storm impacts through the loss of power caused by trees falling on the network. In this context, the Bill and associated policy measures are underpinned by key strands of work outlined below.

Firstly, work is underway on the development of an enduring electricity corridor design. This is being informed by an international review of best practice in forestry corridor management, forestry design standards, and structured stakeholder engagement.

Secondly, the Bill will provide for electricity corridors to be placed on a statutory footing. This will safeguard electricity corridors in all new forestry development and will support the retrospective creation of corridors in existing forestry, using a risk-based approach delivered through a phased, multi-year programme.

Thirdly, an annual corridor clearance programme has been established by ESB Networks. Detailed surveys of overhead line corridors have already provided a strong evidence base on windblow risk. This information will be used to prioritise an annual, multi-year corridor clearance programme, targeted at those locations presenting the highest risk to customer resilience from forestry-related outages.

The Government approved an initial Heads of this Bill last July and a revised Heads of Bill is due to return to Government in the coming weeks reflecting further work in this area. Thereafter, the Bill will go through the pre-legislative scrutiny process and then, subject to Government approval, proceed into the Oireachtas.