Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and committee members for the good work they do on this Oireachtas committee. As a rural-based TD, the work going on here on a regular basis is very important and I thank everyone for that. I thank the committee for the invitation to speak here about ash dieback and other matters, which I consider important to the forestry industry in Ireland.

For the past 100 years, we have been creating new forests in Ireland and keep building on this legacy with our current forestry strategy and programme. We have gone from 1% forest cover in the early 1900s to nearly 12% today, the highest it has been in more than 350 years. Forests are essential to the future of Ireland and its economy. The supply of sustainable raw materials for our timber industry provides the basis for much employment and job opportunities. I have seen these jobs myself in recent months when going to saw mills and other places, such as the factories which make boards for export. More than 85% of those boards are produced in factories here and then exported. It is great to see the lorries going from our forests to these factories and turning it around into a product for export. This gives us sustainable jobs that keep families going in money every week. This is good, especially in rural areas, with nearly 9,500 employed in the industry nationally and the sector contributing €2 billion to our economy.

Forests are also essential to the maintenance of biodiversity and are becoming increasingly important for species. They are also good places for recreation which in turn supports our health and well-being. Forests make a huge contribution to our climate by removing CO2 from the atmosphere, allowing us to store carbon in wood products and provide renewable substitutes for our fossil fuel and energy intensive materials.

I am determined to continue growing our forestry sector to provide attractive financial incentives to plant trees. Our current forestry programme is allocated a total budget of €1.3 billion, which is the largest investment in tree planting in the history of the State. In addition to the afforestation scheme, the programme includes 14 schemes to manage existing forests. It provides essential training and promotes sustainable forest management. I will continue to work with all stakeholders to improve our supports and I am currently undertaking a mid-term review of the forestry programme this year. While Ireland's forests are in relatively good health, there have been challenges, including ash dieback disease, which has had a significant impact on forest owners. The need for support in this regard has been well recognised by successive Governments, including this one. Since 2013 more than €21 million has been paid for site clearance and replanting of ash forests, covering an area of 4,500 ha.

Under the new forestry programme, clearance grants and have been doubled and replanting grants have also been increased. An additional €79.5 million is now available under the climate performance action payment to pay €5,000 per hectare to ash plantation owners. This brings the financial package available to more than €230 million. Other challenges for the sector include the damage from recent storms. An assessment carried out jointly by Coillte and the Department indicated a total of approximately 25,900 ha had been blown down, with just over 11,500 ha of private forest affected and the rest being forests owned by Coillte.

Our response has included the setting up of a wind-blown task force in order to prioritise mobilisation of the wind-blown material to facilitate the importation of machines to help with the harvesting efforts. I am very proud to say to the committee that today, as we speak, 95% of the harvesting equipment in Ireland is working in forests, salvaging the timber that was wind blown, taking it to the sawmills, putting it to good use and delivering a payment to the affected farmers.

More than half of the wind-blown trees have both a felling licence and a road licence, allowing them to be harvested immediately. My Department is now urging those who have not yet applied to do so. I am also exploring the introduction of a reconstitution scheme and I can assure forest owners who carry out clearance or replanting now, that they will not be disadvantaged in the implementation of any such scheme.

I know this is very important to the committee so I want to again urge safety. Unfortunately, we have had a large number of farm accidents in the last six months in particular. I urge any person who is engaging responsible contractors to be responsible about what they are doing. Dealing with wind-blown sites means there is danger involved. I cannot emphasise the safety element enough.

These responses are part of our work to set the course for a renewed future for forestry in Ireland. We have approved an additional 4,500 ha that are now available for planting under the afforestation schemes. We acknowledge that the decision to plant trees is one for private landowners, most of whom are farmers. We know that this is influenced both by economic return and cultural attachment to the land. We have ensured that forestry delivers a strong economic return for farmers through the attractive rates in the current programme. It is an activity that is complementary to other farming activities. We have improved the licensing system, with the majority of applications now being processed within agreed farmers' charters timelines. We have the capacity to issue sufficient afforestation licences to meet our annual targets of 8,000 ha.

Regarding the licensing, I was here with many members of the committee in the past fighting about and complaining about the length of time it was taking to process licences. I can assure the committee that of all of the forests that are knocked at the moment 65% had a licence. We merged the thinning licences with the felling licences, which was a great help. This really affected people working on the ground in a positive way. This was what I would call a political and departmental decision that was good and sound. The farmers are benefitting from that now. There is also the fact that the committee can be confident that our excellent people, working in the licensing processing unit, have the capability to approve licences within six months.

Delivering these targets will require a collaborative approach and a shared responsibility between Government at all levels, our agencies, forest stakeholders and the people of Ireland. As farmers and foresters are the custodians of our land, they will be at the centre of our renewed programme of engagement in the coming years, supporting the cocreation of effective forest policies and schemes that meet the needs of everyone.

I hope that the committee members will find our debate today helpful. Our focus is the growing of more timber and ensuring that farmers and landowners will have money going into their pockets. We will be planting trees for our own use and, very importantly, for export in the future.