Publication
Public Consultation on Licence Applications for Felling, Afforestation, Forest Roads and Aerial Fertilisation
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
Changes have been made to how submissions are received and considered by the department. Please read this notice carefully for information on how to make a submission and pay the fee.
Under Part 6 of the Forestry Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 191 of 2017) where the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine receives an application for a licence for felling, afforestation, forest road works, or aerial fertilisation, before making a decision on the matter, he or she is required amongst other things to:
• Publish a notice of the application; and
• Inform the public that any person may make a submission or observation in writing concerning the application to the Minister within 30 days from the date of publication of that notice.
In addition, under Part 7 of the Regulations, where the application pertains specifically to afforestation or forest road works and is below the relevant mandatory thresholds for an Environmental Impact Assessment, which in the case afforestation is an area of less than 50 hectares and in the case a forest road the length of works are less than 2000 metres, the Minister is also required:
• To assess the likely significant effects on the environment of the proposed project, considering the criteria set out in Schedule 3 of the Regulations; and
• Where he or she determines that the project is likely to have a significant effect on the environment to require the production of an Environmental Impact Statement by the applicant and undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment in respect of the application.
The lists below give notice of the applications for licences that have been received by the Department. Choose the month, then the project type, e.g. Afforestation.
Further information on forestry licence applications may be obtained in the Department’s Forestry Licence Viewer (FLV). Application documentation for applications received from 11th January, 2021, will be made available in the FLV, when that application is advertised and open for public consultation. Additional documentation will be uploaded to the FLV, when the application is decided.
As noted above, any person may make a submission or observation concerning such applications, including on the likely effect on the environment of a proposed project, within 30 days of the publication of the notice on the Department’s website. Submissions or requests for further information, must be made in writing, contact information is below. The submission must include a name or names, postal address and phone number or email.
Submissions may now be made in the FLV, by clicking on the “New Submission” button, when viewing the licence details in the FLV. Please read the introduction text carefully before proceeding with the submission as work started cannot be saved to return to later. Information is also provided on uploading documents with the submission and on how to pay the fee.
Submissions received on forestry licence applications will be made available to view in the Forestry Licence Viewer (FLV) as described above. It must be noted that the name and address of the person(s) that makes the submission will be available in the FLV (but not their phone number or email). The Department’s privacy statement in relation to documents published, is available in the help pages of the FLV.
The Forestry (Amendment) Regulations (S.I. No. 417 of 2020) provide for the charging of application and submission fees. The fee for the making of a submission in respect of any one application (by licence reference number) is €20. A single submission that covers several licence reference numbers will be charged according to each reference number. Submission fees are non-refundable regardless of the final decision on the licence application including withdrawal, or if the submission and/or payment are received after the closing date for submissions.
Submissions must be received by 4pm on the date indicated on the notice. Submissions received by post delivered to the address below on the closing date or submissions received by email if the timestamp of the email is sent before 4pm on the closing date, will be considered valid providing payment is also received before the closing date. It is important that submissions are emailed to the correct address, as indicated below. Submissions sent to other email addresses cannot be accepted as valid.
A fee is also payable in relation to the provision of information regarding forestry licences and/or copies of those licences and related documents.
The fees are:
(i) for the search and retrieval of a record, a fee of €20 per hour for the time spent, by each person concerned, in carrying out the search and retrieval efficiently,
(ii) for the copying of the requested record, a fee of €0.04 for each sheet that forms part of the record,
(iii) fees under (i) and (ii) apply regardless whether requests for records are made in hard copy or electronic format.
Enquiries and submissions on applications for licences for Afforestation, Forest Roads, or Aerial Fertilisation should be addressed to:
Post: Approvals Section, Forestry Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Johnstown Castle Estate, Co. Wexford.
Enquiries and submissions on applications for Tree Felling Licences should be addressed to:
Post: Felling Section, Forestry Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Johnstown Castle Estate, Co. Wexford,
The Department is making available the following method for paying a submission:
Valid cheques, bank drafts, postal orders or money orders may be sent by post with a written submission. Do not send bank notes in the post. Such payments must be made payable to Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. A submission accompanied with payment by cheque, bank draft, postal or money orders, that is found to be invalid, will not be accepted. Third party cheques, bank drafts, postal or money orders cannot be accepted.
Payment is accepted by credit/debit card over the phone between 09.15am – 12.45pm and 2pm – 5pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). Please phone 053-9163425, where card details will be taken, and payment processed. During this call, you will be asked for your name, address and phone number and the reference number of the application concerned. This is to enable matching the payment to the submission. The information will not be retained, once the payment is validated and attached to a submission. The Department cannot accept responsibility for incorrect licence reference numbers.
All valid submissions will be acknowledged, which will serve as a receipt of payment of the submission fee.