Danny Healy-Rae demands halt to forestry appeals amid backlog
Danny Healy-Rae criticised the minister's handling of forestry appeals and demanded a binding timeline to clear the backlog, saying the bill is "worthless" without one. He urged the government to halt new appeals temporarily by signing a statutory instrument and warned of serious harm to rural forestry and livelihoods.
Appeals backlog and timeline demand
He accused the minister and the deputy minister of leaving appeal timing to ministerial discretion and said appellants and their dependents deserve fair play. He argued a deadline must be imposed for deciding appeals and that without a timeline the bill will be ineffective.
Call for a temporary stop via statutory instrument
He proposed the Taoiseach could sign a statutory instrument to prevent new appeals being lodged until the backlog is cleared and felon licences are issued, citing a previous instrument that put penalty points on fishermen as precedent.
Impact on rural communities and industry
He warned that ongoing appeals are blocking felon licences and stopping timber harvesting, threatening sawmills, local workers and household needs. He cited cases including a man in a wheelchair needing timber to adapt his home and families needing sale proceeds to pay for college, and said the loss of forestry production would be remembered.
Political warning and urgency
He accused the government of not listening to rural concerns, demanded immediate action to set deadlines and block further appeals, and warned of severe consequences if delays continue. He pressed the minister to act quickly to protect forestry production and the communities that depend on it.
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I'm very disappointed again with the Board Minister's response and it's absolutely ridiculous to think that he can sell, that he tried to sell that story to us, that he let it up to the Minister to decide when an appeal would be dealt with. We're asking for a timeline, in fairness, on behalf of the people that are involved and their dependiness to ensure that they get fair play. You're not going to give them fair play. And I mean, Deputy Minister McConnell, you said that at a later stage, when the thing would cool down a bit, that there would be, if I understood you right, that there would be a timeline put on it by the Minister, but I'm not sure that you even said that. But what you're forgetting, Minister, is the appeals are going to keep coming, these bligards are going to keep bligarding, and they're not going to stop, just because you say you have a bill passed. The bill is worthless, as it stands, if we don't put in a timeline. And maybe you should be telling these fellas, when they're sending appeals now, until we get up and running and get the timeline due, that he can't take appeals. He had the polls that be, the Taoiseach signed a statutory instrument, putting penalty points on fishermen. Can't he sign another statutory instrument, saying that he'll take no more appeals, for the time being, until the backlog is cleared, and until the people that are waiting for the licences, the felony licences, get them, and until work continues again, in a normal fashion, like it has done back over the years, until two years ago, deciding that he can take appeals in, when you're able to deal with them. But the facts are, he's not able to deal with appeals, and he have no notion in dealing with them, if he aren't going to put a deadline on them. Put a stop to them for now. Get the Taoiseach to sign the statutory instrument. Maybe you can do it. You're the Minister for Agriculture, the Cedar Minister. Maybe you can do it. But it's time, the time for the brigadier is stopped now. The time is gone. And it's here time to start it out, and start it out one way or another. Stop the appeals, for now, if there's such a backlash, because they're not going to stop, they're going to keep coming. And at the rate you're going, the whole thing will close down in one slap altogether, and he'll be remembered forever for it. Other governments close the sugar factory in Manor, and they'll remember for it, and they'll never be forgotten for it. But if he'll close down the timber industry, and the whole business of cutting timber, take it to saw mills, and cut it up for roofing houses, if you're going to be preside over that, you're going to take a fair hammering at some stage, and no one knows who will survive or get through in the next election. We're all trying to do our best here, but I can see that the government are not listening to us on a very, very serious aspect of production that has been achieved in rural, very marginal land that was absolutely good for nothing else. And governments gave them grants to plant the trees, and it would only be right for those people to presume that if they've got a grant to plant them, that they would be at least allowed to cut them down. And what we're asking is to deal with these brigades that are, and like, there could be a very small number of people that have genuine appeals, and would have concerns, and we want to assist them. But not the story that's going on with fellas 200 miles away from Kerry appealing and holding up a felon license. That's truly wrong. You have parents that want to send and pay for children in college. I have another person in a wheelchair for two years, and his wife wants to sell a bit of forestry to make the house more, to adapt the house for him. He got a stroke. There's several cases right under our noses, and this is what's happening. The man beside me has a harlot set up, and he's depending on timber to be filled. He can't rot if it didn't cut. And there's several thousands of workers right around us, and we have very little down in rural parts of Kerry, but they had the forestry and production, and it's all going to go for nothing. And T-shirts, our minister, you must do something to stop the level of appeals coming in, if you says that you can't, the reason you're giving is that you can't put a deadline. That's not an acceptable reason, minister, that you must let it up to the minister. And there is hundreds of applications going in. You, minister, won't deal with those things, or you won't want to, because it's to be too honest and too complicated. You have to put in a deadline for deciding on appeals, and block any other appeal that will come in until you have that in place. Surely you're coming to see that. What are you talking about along the minister to make a decision on each appeal? God help us. God help us. God help us. God help us. God help us. We'll be looking forward forward to this opportunity. We're about to use these things to do in place. Let's move us. word onylan. And that's where we are. Because there's some other issues to do in place. There's some other issues that can mean, you can help us. Here's what we're seeing. We'll be going after you. Let's go ahead with us.
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