Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the officials back. Much of what I am asking has probably been asked already but it is a cry from the public out there. The public are very angry and frustrated and we as public representatives are equally angry and frustrated. I have a company in west County Cork, GP Wood, that employs many hundreds of people and is severely struggling. It is a very serious situation. On licencing output, there was average of just 46 forestry licences issued per week during July and 44 a week during August. On afforestation, the Department's forestry licence section has given permission for just 2,839 ha of new tree planting up to the end of last month, meaning the State is set to again miss its target of 8,000 ha of new woodland planting this year.

Senior officials in the Department promised to process more than 100 licences per week to resolve the long-running backlog of permits to cut down and plant trees. However, the completion rate for forestry licences plunged over the summer months, at a time of national timber shortage, putting jobs in the forestry sector at continued risk and damaging the State's climate action targets. This is the sixth time this committee has brought in Government or forestry officials to discuss forestry matters in the past 12 months. I have a few questions.

What is the timescale on the Project Woodland recommendation on the regulatory and planning review of the licence system and what is the current status of this recommendation? We need a timescale around this review. Jobs are being lost right now in the industry. We cannot wait indefinitely for this review and then have it gather dust on a Department shelf while foresters and timber processors remain on their knees.

My second question is on afforestation. I recently read the Department's licensing section has given permission for a paltry 2,839 ha of tree planting up to the end of August. What do the officials expect this number to have reached at the end of this year? I am looking for a specific figure. It has been clear from the outset of the year that we would not reach the 8,000 ha target but I want the officials to tell me now what they expect the figures to be by the year's end.

Do the officials still expect the Department to hit its own targets of 4,500 licences being issued this year? That will be a yes-no answer.