Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and I thank the members of the committee for this invitation today. I am very keen to discuss the strategy and, most importantly, and of immediate significance, is the new forestry programme.

As the Minister mentioned, it has been a very long process to arrive at a new vision, strategy and forestry programme for Ireland. It involved extensive public and stakeholder consultation, and intensive engagement with the Commission, to secure state aid approval for the €1.3 billion commitment to forestry.

What we now have is very much in line with the spirit of the shared national vision that we will plant the right trees in the right places for the right reasons and with the right management. True, we now exclude some areas, which might have been planted historically, but this is necessary to meet our environmental obligations and to avoid the mistakes of the past. We can no longer plant on special protection areas, SPAs, on the top eight freshwater pearl mussel areas or within 1.5 km of curlew breeding sites.

An analysis has been carried out on the afforestation files on hand that may be affected by these new restrictions. Of the 437 applications, approximately 3% are in areas that will not now be eligible under the conditions of the scheme, as they are within 1.5 km of a curlew site. Approximately 24% of the applications are entirely unaffected by the changes, and the remainder will require further analysis and assessment regarding their eligibility as they are in areas where new restrictions may apply, which may affect their eligibility. These applications are either on peat soils, in high nature value areas, in breeding wader areas or a combination of these.

I know that this will require additional work at application stage in cases affected. We are addressing this by means of virtual training sessions already held and by in-person training of all registered foresters across the country starting next week. We have also produced guidance documents to assist foresters and a frequently asked questions document to clarify any matters arising. We will continue to engage frequently and openly in order to facilitate the submission of the maximum number of applications. Furthermore, we have an environmental report grant to support applicants in submitting required documents.

In tandem with this training we have a targeted communication campaign under way. As the Minister mentioned, farmers are key to the delivery of the programme. To this end, we had a forestry focused presence at the National Ploughing Championships. We have also produced a farm forestry booklet that explains in clear terms the different forest types, and the grants and premiums available. We will sending a copy of the booklet to every farmer in the country.

Print advertisements have been placed in newspapers and members may have heard some of our radio advertisements that advise "it pays to plant a forest." This promotion is also happening on social media and starting next week Teagasc will host a series of 20 information sessions throughout the country.

Of course we would like all interested in forestry to promote the new programme. We will fund such initiatives under our call for proposals, which is currently open for applications. I know there is concern that the legacy issue of delays in issuing licences will affect interest in planting. Our Department has undertaken a great deal of work to address previous licensing issues, by improving processes and increasing resources. We are now in a position to give certainty to applicants as to when they will receive a licence. We are working on a licensing plan that will cover the remainder of 2023 and will also provide indicative plans for 2024. We were not in a position to do so without having an indication of the number of applicants with an existing licence or with an application in the system who would opt into the new programme. I am pleased to say that we have received 377 opt-ins for 3,412 ha to date and that afforestation licences began to issue last week.

I am acutely aware of another issue that arises all of the time at this committee and other forums. I refer to the need to address is the ash dieback situation. I am aware of the distress that this disease has caused to many farmers and have been on many sites. I have commissioned an independent review of how the Department has dealt with the ash dieback issue. Yesterday, I published the report of the independent review group which examined existing and previous supports available to landowners with affected ash plantations.

We are looking closely at the 13 recommendations in this report. Many of the recommendations are in hand and three recommendations require further assessment, in particular in the context of state aid rules. We are actively looking at that now. I will publish a full implementation plan in due course. In the meantime, I encourage affected landowners to apply for the newly launched reconstitution scheme, which will: cover the costs of clearing and replanting affected sites; and offers top-up payments to new higher rates for forest owners who are still eligible for premiums. It is my clear intention that any forest owner who applies to this scheme, or who availed of the 2020 reconstitution scheme, will not be disadvantaged by any changes made as a result of the independent review process. It is important that these trees get cleared. That is why I encourage farmers and landowners to engage in the scheme as soon as possible.

I wish to make clear that I fully support all types of planting under this new programme, from native trees to agroforestry to forests planted primarily for timber production. The forest strategy implementation plan has non-programme actions focused on increasing the amount of timber in construction, and we need landowners to plant productive mixed forests to support this aim. In support of this goal, this morning I announced Professor Owen Lewis as chair of the timber in construction steering group. The members of this group will shortly be announced. They will seek to promote the use of timber in the Irish construction sector so that we can displace emissions-intensive steel and concrete, where possible. There are many other aspects of the programme that support the sustainable management of our forests, which will be rolled out in the coming months. We also already have the knowledge transfer scheme up and running.

We have an enormous potential to make optimal use of our forests and establish new ones for the benefit of future generations under this programme. I really hope that this opportunity is grasped by all.