Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A total of 40% of those who secure licences for afforestation do not proceed to planting. That is a significant level. There is not another scheme I am aware of where that number of people go to the effort of making an application and, by the time it comes round, decide not to proceed. Is there any sense that will change as a result of the new forestry programme? If it does not, it means that if we are to have any hope of planting 8,000 ha a year, we need to be granting licences for upwards on 16,000 ha per year. I would have serious concerns as to whether the Department would have the capacity to deal with that many applications.