2717. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will request his Department to provide the procedures regarding alleged illegal forestry works (AIF). [61919/26]

Forestry in Ireland operates within a legal and regulatory framework – the Forest Act 2014 and the Forestry Regulations 2017 (SI No 191 of 2017). The regulation of forestry is necessary in order to protect forests and to ensure that forestry operations and activities are carried out in compliance with the principles of sustainable forest management.

Compliance with forestry licence conditions is an important element of the forestry licensing process and is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the forestry licensing system.

My Department carries out monitoring of licence holders for compliance with licence conditions. The Alleged Illegal Forestry (AIF) section within my Department can be contacted where a member of the public is concerned about alleged illegal forestry practices. Typically, a Replanting Order is the primary method used for incidents of illegal tree felling, although prosecution for non-compliance with the Forestry Act is also used, to ensure that the replanting obligation is met in full.

Further information on alleged illegal forestry and how to report it can be found on my Department’s website here:

www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/publications/illegal-forestry/

AIF can be contacted at: aif@agriculture.gov.ie