Mr. Kevin Collins:

I will add an example to show how something far away can have an impact on the processing of licences. This happened recently and relates to SI 293/2021, which came out in July as a result of an EU court judgment. It was completely beyond our control but had an impact on us. The statutory instrument in question was released by a different Department and introduced a need for a 30-day consultation window. The statutory instrument came into effect in July and within a couple of weeks, we were able to commence advertising hundreds of files within that 30-day period. That is our job so I am not asking for praise, but those files will begin to come out in the next couple of days.

It is an example of something that had its origin abroad. We had to do something quickly as a result of a statutory instrument. It became law. We had to do it or else we would be legally remiss. In a matter of weeks we were able to quickly change our systems. In parallel with the deliberations going on in Project Woodland there is a constant churn of change within the forest service in the processing of licences. We are trying all the time to get better efficiencies out and tackle these changes that come from left field. I am giving that as an example of something that is going on. We are not waiting for Project Woodland to produce results. This constant evolution is happening behind the scenes.