Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will do my best. I ask members to bear with me. I have forgotten any questions, they should remind me of them so I can try to address them.

I will begin by responding to Deputy Corcoran Kennedy. It is a helpful coincidence that the CAP programme and the new afforestation programme will run in tandem. I have always said that the two programmes need to have regard to each other. The internal preparation for the next afforestation programme is under way within the Department. The Deputy asked whether organisations such as Crann will be involved. There is an opportunity in some of the community-led schemes. The NeighbourWood scheme is in place to facilitate public initiatives such as community-owned initiatives. I have seen NeighbourWood schemes at home and in County Mayo and other places. The Department supports the creation of woodlands under this scheme in public spaces, which allows such projects to have an educational dimension. For example, native trees and, in particular, broadleaf trees are identified and marked along routes such as Slí na Sláinte ways which encourage people to participate in healthy activities.

There have been seven different measures under the TAMS programme, which was mentioned by the Deputy. It has been exclusively for farmers up to now. This should be considered as part of the CAP review. The specialist removal equipment that could be considered as part of such an approach is not the standard equipment.

The Deputy referred to grassland replanting. There is a replanting obligation as part of the afforestation programme, which is meant to increase the net area. Restoring lands to grassland can be considered in the context of ash dieback or perhaps some other exceptional circumstance in which land is not suitable,. In general, however, the replanting obligation is in place because this is an afforestation programme.

I assure Senator Mulherin that the application system has regard to areas that have been designated as special areas of conservation or Natura sites, or where habitats are present. Such factors must be taken into consideration. County development plans are also considered. Site notices are required under the 2014 Act. The enabling legislation has been in place for two years now. Site notices have to be put up. There is a 28-day opportunity to make submissions, an opportunity to make an appeal and an independent appeals office. When applications are made in respect of all roads with the exception of motorways and national roads, the new requirements are incorporated into the Department's application system as part of the planning process. The Senator referred to the requirement to have a 60 m setback distance from a dwelling. This distance can be increased in certain circumstances, where appropriate.

Deputy Cahill asked a range of questions. Hedgerows have not been included in the system. There is an argument for including them. In recent years, almost 4,000 km of new hedgerows have been instated under environmental schemes like GLAS and AEOS. Coppicing and other approaches are being pursued. I accept that hedgerows could and should be seen as part of our biodiversity from a carbon sequestration perspective. In any event, I have read that regardless of the type of plantation, hedgerows are considered to be better stores or reservoirs from a biodiversity perspective than conifer or broadleaf planations. I have heard this stated and I have no reason to disagree with it.

The aim of the tax incentive, which has been accepted, was to encourage people. Approximately 85% of the €3 billion in Exchequer funding that has been spent in this area since 1990 has gone to farmers. It has been successful. We have 300,000 ha more forestry in the system now than we had in 1990. The rate of increase has slowed down for a number of reasons. At the outset, we were able to concentrate on the low-hanging fruit by incentivising afforestation on areas of land that were readily available. There are competing demands now. There are tax incentives for long-term leasing. We have seen an expansion in the dairy sector. Despite the position taken by some people, we have seen stricter guidelines and more stringent assessment in the approvals process.

Some will say that this has slowed it down while others will argue that it is not restrictive enough. We have seen designations of land in terms of the hen harrier, the freshwater pearl mussel, acid sensitivity and others come into place, which has made it more onerous to get an approval and which has required resourcing in the form of archaeologists in the Department, an additional two of whom have been recruited. There is also ongoing recruitment of geologists.

This is something that we have to move and evolve with. As to the hen harrier, Deputy Cahill referred to the research and studies that have shown that with a proper thicket mix, anything from pre-thicket to post-thicket and first thinnings onwards, if the balance is got right, there can be a healthy environment with forestry at a certain level in plantations. That is certainly an argument that we have made and submitted to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. We advocate that controlled, managed afforestation can be allowed in hen harrier zones. The full approval for that lies outside our Department's control at the moment and this will continue to be the case. We agree that this can be managed sensibly and I do not see why it should not be.

I am not sure if Deputy Cahill asked the question, but on clear-fell timelines, 83% are approved within four months, 93% are within six months, and year-to-date approvals are up 270%, so there has been a significant ramping up. One archaeologist has been working full time on felling licence applications. We have an appeals process on that, on roads, and on approvals for planting. The new legislation has not been without its resources challenges in ensuring that the system works.

Turning to the question that was asked on making the system work better, Deputy Penrose asked about Scotland. If we can compare like with like and what lessons can be learned from their system, administration and processing are things that we are conscious of needing to be worked upon all of the time.