Independent Laois-Offaly TD Carol Nolan has called for the Forestry Bill to be passed this week to deal with what she says is a ‘major sectoral crisis’.
Ms Nolan has confirmed that she has submitted a number of amendments to the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020 which is due to be debated in the Dáil on Tuesday (today) and Wednesday of this week.
Deputy Nolan said that the Dáil must act swiftly and decisively to ensure that the Bill achieves its objective of addressing the ongoing crisis in the forestry licensing and appeals system.
She said: “The urgency and importance of this Bill simply cannot be overstated and that is why we have to make sure that the Bill which emerges at the other end of the legislative process is fit for purpose and actually helps the sector.
“I have been in contact with strong local employers like Flaherty Sawmills and Coolrain Sawmills and indeed self-employed forestry sector workers and farmers and they are all absolutely clear the current system is not fit for purpose.
“They say the ability to operate and plan is being impeded by what they have rightly termed administrative inadequacies and procedural barriers, which exist nowhere else in Europe.
“The submissions from local forestry sector employers in Laois-Offaly also make it clear that the appeals system has to be radically reformulated to prevent the volume of appeals, both vexatious and otherwise that are holding up the entire sector and thousands of jobs to ransom.
“That is why I have submitted amendments which seek to empower those within the sector to get on with making a living and offering sustainable employment.
“It is vital that this Bill moves through the Dáil and is signed into law as quickly as possible.
“The forestry sector cannot afford any more delays to a system that is already overwhelmed with a backlog of appeals.”
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