Leitrim forestry concerns raised as Dáil returns 

On Wednesday, the issue of forestry in Leitrim was raised in the Dáil by both Deputy Martin Kenny, Sinn Fein, and Frank Feighan, Fine Gael.

This marked the 13th day since Storm Eówyn made landfall in Ireland and left over two thousand homes in Leitrim without power.

This also marked the first time the Dáil had sat to discuss matters of state in two weeks while being the 13th day without power for over two thousand homes in Leitrim.

“When I got up this morning, the first thing I had to do was go out and get a five-gallon drum and a drop of petrol to put it in the generator,“ said Deputy Kenny.

"The network said the power would be back today, but now it is saying that it will be next Sunday before it will be back … This is the case for hundreds and thousands of people across my constituency,” he said.

Deputy Kenny highlighted the difficulty this has caused vulnerable people and the elderly in the constituency since the storm, blaming forestry planning for the outages.

"Forests have grown up where the power lines go through. The forests are supposed to have a 10 m corridor. Trees, however, have grown 30 m tall, and one does not need to be a genius to know that when the wind comes, they will fall on the lines.”

Deputy Frank Feighan also addressed the Dáil, asking Michael Healy Rae, Minister for Forestry, directly about what his department would do to tackle the issue of forestry, especially the problem of trees being planted too close to power lines, going forward.

"We need to do better,” he said. ”I believe that the Army should have been called in … It would have sent out a signal that we were prepared as a Government to help our people in the west and northwest, from Dublin,“ he added.

Mr. Feighan asked the minister to clarify the rights of the ESB to cut trees near their power lines, to clarify the issue of felling licenses for such clearance, and asked if the department would consider introducing by-laws to reinforce the responsibility of forest owners.

The minister clarified that the ESB has the right to cut any trees or shrubbery interfering with power lines and promised that his department would help the ESB in this respect by facilitating “any mitigations or actions proposed by (the ESB) in regards to the interaction between them and forestry.”

Minister Healy Rae also stated that the windblown task force, which includes the IFA, IFO, and Coillte, had met to coordinate the removal of fallen trees in the aftermath of Storm Eówyn.

“My department has started a process along with Coillte using satellite imagery that will be able to provide the information nationally and at forest level,” he said.

This information will be used to inform the next steps regarding clearing trees, and he also stated that his department would ensure the felling license process for owners would be “robust without challenge.”

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