Mr. Karl Coggins:

On the number of trees planted in the forestry programme, since 1 January 2015, we have planted about 42 million individual trees, and so far in 2019, we have planted about 8 million, so 250 million trees is a really achievable target. In terms of encouraging landowners and farmers in particular to plant, the Department has been especially active in the area of promotion. That includes funding Teagasc to develop a curriculum for the green certificate that was mentioned earlier. We also funded 15 individual promotion projects throughout the country, increasing awareness among the public of the multifunctional benefits of forestry as well as encouraging afforestation among farmers.

In terms of a strategy, the Department very much encourages the farm forestry approach where it is not so much about forestry or farming but rather about forestry and farming working together. We can see from the national farm survey that a significant number of farms could plant some land with trees while maintaining herd number. That would create a valuable asset both economically and environmentally by planting trees. Under the current forestry programme, we will continue to offer generous grants that cover 100% of the establishment costs of afforestation as well as the premium payments that we pay each year for 15 years up to €680 per hectare.