The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) with responsibility for forestry, Pippa Hackett, has today (Wednesday, January 13) announced the launch of Phase 2 of her department’s online forestry portal.

The portal, called Forestry Licence Viewer (FLV), shows application information for forestry licences in Ireland and provides the public with direct online access to forestry licence applications and decisions.

Announcing Phase 2, which follows from the launch of Phase 1 in December 2020, the minister said: “From today, all new forestry licence applications received, along with all related application documents, will appear in the FLV as they are advertised and are open for public consultation.

The portal is using the most up-to-date mapping tools and the information will be available at the push of a button.

Aside from making all application information available, when a licence is decided, the final decision and all related documents can also be accessed there.

The department has said that over time the portal will build up to hold a repository of licence applications, supporting documentation and decisions.

Value of online portal

“I expect today’s new features will be welcomed given that the tool is already proving to be hugely valuable,” the minister added.

The usage so far has been high, and the portal has been well received. It all bodes well for even further developments, and I am very much looking forward to Phase 3 which will be made available this spring.

“[It] will provide an online facility to make a submission on a forestry licence application.”

Forestry Licence Viewer

The FLV is being released in three phases:

Phase 1 – Which was launched in December 2020 – shows high-level site information with easy-to-use search tools.

Phase 2 – Application documentation will be published in the viewer, for applications received and decisions made on those applications from January 11, 2021, including applicant information, supporting documents such as reports, assessments and any submissions received on an application.

The decision on the application will also be published as part of Phase 2. The application documentation will be published when the application is advertised and open for public consultation; submissions will be made available as they are received and processed; decisions and supporting documentation will be published as they are advertised.

Phase 3 – A link will be made available on applications that are open for public consultation, to allow interested parties to make a submission online and to pay the fee.

Users will be able to use licence reference numbers; search by location (townland and county); use the recent applications list; or zoom into a location.