Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The officials will be delighted to hear I am not one for beating up an official and so they are going to get a small moment of respite. I appreciate that an earnest effort is being made on their part to try to get to the root of this problem. I am sure they do not welcome having to come before the committee to face members but I acknowledge that they have said they respect the work of the committee. I would like to ask a couple of questions and I will endeavour not to go over the ground that already has been trodden.

In regard to Coillte, is there a special line of communication open to it within the Department? I understand Coillte is the biggest player in the market. Is there a dedicated route for it? Are there staff within the licensing processing section who deal exclusively with Coillte or is it a case of fair game in respect of licence applications received, with anybody being able to deal with them? The smaller producers would like clarity on that question. They would like to hear that there is not a dedicated scenario to safeguard Coillte's needs and expectations.

On recruitment, have all of the roles sought been filled or are there vacancies within the team yet to be filled? The Minister's letter to the committee, which I think was dated 20 July, dealt primarily with the issue of what has happened in July and the consultation period. I note it was stated that in all likelihood we will drop back to 4,000 licences by the end of the year. Is there any commonality within the licensing applications? I know some are historical, with some relating to 2017 and others to 2018. Are the officials in a position to say that a typical forestry licence application can take six to eight weeks to process? I am seeking some insight into how the team works. Are there specialists within it such that when issues arise they are handed over to them? Is it the case that the same people work through the licence application from the outset or have the officials at this stage identified that more experienced people should be dealing with the difficult cases? If the witnesses could respond to some of those questions, I would appreciate it.