Mr. Teige Ryan:

Before I begin, I thank the committee for inviting SEEFA to speak about the issues facing the forestry sector. The committee will be well aware of the issues, given that this matter was before the committee an unprecedented six times in 2021. Unfortunately, many of the issues remain despite the committee's best efforts.

The climate action plan states "Afforestation is the single largest land-based climate change mitigation measure available to Ireland." Of a climate action afforestation target of 8,000 ha in 2021, only 2,000 ha were planted. The forest service's inability to meet programme for Government afforestation targets over for the past six years has resulted in a failure to plant 21,500 ha, which could have removed 8 million tonnes of CO2 from our atmosphere.

Today, we hope to discuss the approach from the forest service, which is further suppressing afforestation levels and seriously undermining confidence among landowners. In January, the Department outlined its plan to issue 5,250 licences for 2022, which it described as "highly ambitious". Shame on the Department. It was informed by the industry in 2021 that a minimum of 7,000 licences would be required in 2022 for the sector to function and retain current employment levels. We were therefore dismayed when the forest service ignored that advice and published a licensing plan that did not meet the needs of the sector. What an ambition. Seven hundred and fifty-nine afforestation licences remain in the system, with an average of only 12 being issued weekly. Some 60% of these licences have now been with the forest service for more than 13 months, and of all licences issued for 2021, only 12% were for afforestation. Forestry companies and businesses are seriously impacted by the Department's inability to issue enough licences for the industry to trade. The Department will claim that it has hired more ecologists and expects to see improvements in licensing output over the coming weeks, but how many times has the committee been told that? The reality is that nothing is changing. Is it not ironic that, with a Green Party Senator as our Minister of State, the industry is considering a planned protest outside this building for our right to plant trees, produce wood and maintain rural jobs?

Forestry nurseries have only survived because increased afforestation levels in Scotland of over 12,000 ha per annum presented a lifeline and an opportunity to export millions of saplings that would otherwise have been destroyed. This would have resulted in the closure of the nurseries and an end to a forestry nursery culture in Ireland, rendering all Government afforestation targets impossible for the foreseeable future.

The success in Scotland can be attributed to political will at ministerial level in respect of tree planting and full implementation of Mackinnon's recommendations on its licensing system. Political will and any implementation of Mackinnon's recommendations are something that we in Ireland apparently cannot achieve. The recent review of the regulatory system presents an opportunity for change and a chance to reverse arbitrary policy decisions that have the industry in its current state. However, the possibility of regulatory reform will again test political will at ministerial level.

Policy decisions, a dysfunctional licensing system and mismanagement at senior level have resulted in our once thriving private forestry sector going from planting 15,000 ha per annum 20 years ago to 8,000 ha ten years ago, and reduced to just 2,000 ha in 2021, the lowest level since 1946. This is completely against Government policy. The Department will claim a lack of interest among farmers for this reduction.

However, if these issues are to be addressed correctly, the Department must first accept the reasons for the decline, which are excessive delays in its licensing system, the shameful way landowners have been treated in relation to ash dieback and the obvious incompatibility between afforestation and the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, which has seen farmer planting decline by over 80% during the term of the green, low-carbon, agri-environment scheme, GLAS. Input from forestry stakeholders could prevent a repeat of this in the next CAP.

The Department’s assistant secretary who has the forestry mandate also has responsibility for GLAS. However, our sector was not notified or invited onto the CAP consultative committee at the outset. When the industry requested membership later, we were refused by our own Minister.

Do members believe significant changes are needed to regain confidence among landowners? Do they believe that significant changes are required to achieve our climate action commitments? Do they want to see new rural jobs such as seed collectors, nursery operatives, agricultural contractors, machine drivers, fencers, planters or maintenance crews - I could go on - created in their areas? None of these opportunities will be realised if we do not recognise the elephant in the room and deal with it quickly.