Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will share four minutes with Deputy O'Connor.

As Members will be aware, the issues impacting the forestry sector have been a priority of mine since taking on this brief. I welcome the interest and engagement from the members of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the other Deputies in the Chamber. The committee's report of March 2021 on issues impacting the forestry sector in Ireland was a detailed and considered analysis, with recommendations, observations and conclusions. The recommendations were in line with many of my views and, indeed, I expressed that to the Chairman of the committee, Deputy Cahill, in my letter of May 2021. Many of the recommendations in the report are being acted upon.

As I said earlier in the Seanad when I spoke on the issue of forestry, I have come directly from COP26 in Glasgow. The discussions on climate change and the need to move towards carbon neutrality were thought-provoking and resonated strongly with me and, I am sure, with many of the Deputies here. Climate change is, without doubt, the challenge of our era and the one future generations will judge us on. In that context, forestry and woodlands have very much to offer. If we harvest our wood resource and unlock our potential for tree planting, we will have renewable resources and a consistent rate of carbon capture and storage to help us on the pathway towards significantly reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

I wish to make it clear that this Government is committed to the future of forestry in Ireland. We recognise its importance to society, the natural environment and the fight against climate change. It is our goal to deliver on our ambitions for forestry in the future.

The committee's report welcomed the establishment of the forestry policy group and referred to the implementation of the Mackinnon report. I set up Project Woodland earlier this year as a mechanism to reach consensus among a wide range of stakeholders and to oversee the implementation of Mr. Mackinnon's recommendations, which aim to ensure the current backlog in licensing is addressed and to bring a new impetus to woodland creation in Ireland. As Members may know, the extensive stakeholder membership of the forestry policy group now forms the membership of working groups set up under Project Woodland. I acknowledge the work of those stakeholders who have given their time and expertise to advance proposals under the project.

One of the key areas highlighted in the committee's report is that of guaranteed timelines for issuing licences. While we have been making improvements on this issue, the reality is that before we can agree on specific key performance indicators, certain aspects of Project Woodland must first be completed. We have started a full and independent regulatory review of the licensing of forestry activities. It is being led by external consultants and we expect them to report back next February. It will review the existing statutory framework for the licensing system as it relates to environmental and public participation obligations. The question of a single consent covering planting, road construction, management and felling will be considered as part of this review.

We have also had an independent systems analyst look at our processes. She has submitted an interim report to the Project Woodland project board on this end-to-end process. Hopefully, this will yield some process improvement gains in due course.

Complementary to that are two proposals to help to improve the quality of applications received, which is an important aspect of service delivery. The two proposals for the payment of an environmental planning grant and for a pilot project for pre-application discussions are well advanced.

Some people are of the view that Project Woodland is not delivering as quickly as it should. However, this is not easy work and, as most Deputies here will know, there any diverse views in Ireland right now on current and future forestry policy. I am determined to build a vision and strategy that provides a place for new woodland creation while highlighting the multifunctional benefits this can bring.

I will turn to specifically consider licence delivery. I know it is a key area of concern that was highlighted by the joint committee and is a source of deep frustration for those within the sector. We are moving in the right direction but it is important that this discussion is based on facts and the latest figures. It is untrue to say that very few licences are issuing. In the past two months, we have issued over 1,000 new licences. This rate of licensing means that licences are issuing at double the rate of applications received and every week means a net reduction in the number of licenses on hand. By October this year, we had issued more licences than in the whole of last year and we remain confident that we will issue over 4,000 licences this year, which will be 50% higher than last year.

The volume of timber licensed this year is on track to be the highest ever licensed in a single year. By the end of this week, we expect to have passed the 7 million cu. m mark. The length of forest roads licensed this year will also be the highest ever. It is already well ahead of the target in the climate action plan.

Notable too is the number of private felling licences approved, which is something forest owners and those in the sawmilling sector have been calling for. To date, we have issued over 1,000 private felling licences to farmers. Coillte, which supplies 75% of Irish timber, is fully licensed for 2021 and we expect that its 2022 programme will be fully complete by the end of the year.

As Deputies will recall, I introduced emergency legislation this time last year to make the Forestry Appeals Committee more efficient in how it conducts its hearings. This has been remarkably successful and the committee now has 30 appeals to hear, down from almost 1,000 at the peak. Appeals are still coming in but are now being dealt with efficiently and effectively, which was the primary purpose of the legislation.

I am not claiming that everything is resolved; far from it. I am well aware that the output in terms of afforestation licences has not kept pace with felling licensing. Getting afforestation licensing back on track remains our main outstanding priority. We are addressing that and now have ten ecologists dedicated to afforestation. By their nature, afforestation licences are more difficult to process as they represent a change of land use activity and there are strict requirements in terms of assessment. As things stand, there are 5,700 ha of approved lands available for afforestation and I would encourage every landowner with an afforestation licence to make use of it.

There has been some critical commentary about how long it takes to issue a licence and I fully accept it. Right now, the average time for a decision on a forestry licence is about 11 months. This figure is reducing all the time and we are working hard to reduce it further. Overall, our improved output reflects our investment in resources within the Department. As Deputy Sherlock pointed out, 27 ecologists are now working exclusively on forestry files. We have also increased the number of inspectors and administrative staff dealing with forestry. This was needed, given the complexity of the licensing environment and the increased need for public participation. We are keeping resource requirements under continuous review, in line with one of the recommendations in the joint committee's report. However, I firmly believe that issues in forestry now will only be resolved through a collaborative approach involving stakeholders, communities, State agencies, NGOs and farmers. We must take a longer-term view and put in place a strategy which aims for consensus and a national vision for forestry. This is why I established Project Woodland.

A phrase I heard during my visit to COP26 was that if you want to get somewhere fast, go alone but if you want to go the distance, bring the team. That is what I am trying to do with Project Woodland. I acknowledge the members of my forestry policy group, all of whom are going the distance.

Of course, Project Woodland is not only looking at licensing; it is also looking at a vision for the future which will chart the way forward for forestry for the rest of this century. This renewed vision foresees the right trees in the right places for the right reasons and under the right management.

The committee raised the issue of ash dieback, as did Deputies Cahill and Sherlock in their contributions. The Department is preparing a report on the origins of ash dieback in Ireland to assess lessons learned for similar issues in the future. We will share the report with the committee in due course. The question of liability that would arise from restarting premium payments on the affected sites was considered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine but found not to be feasible. Additional payments have instead been made for site clearance and for the establishment of a replacement crop. I have visited many sites of ash dieback and fully understand the devastation it has caused. Some of those owners have availed of the reconstitution and underplanting scheme, while others have not. I note and welcome the committee's support for the research into breeding for tolerance to ash dieback which is currently under way, with a number of trials established in Ireland and Europe.

The committee also called for a strategy for the reconstitution of elm.

Teagasc is interested in finding out about trees growing in Ireland that may be resistant to Dutch elm disease, and it will collect samples to verify resistance if landowners contact it.

As a nation, we must think about what we want from our trees. Everyone will get a chance to have their say as part of an extensive consultation process to create a shared national vision for what our forests will look like in the future. Public consultation will include a public attitudes survey, deliberative dialogue and engagement with young people. This will inform the design of the next forestry programme, which will commence in 2023 and address the issues raised by the committee in respect of its strategy to increase native broadleaf afforestation, highlight the importance of forests as recreational spaces and address the need to encourage farmers to participate in afforestation.

We must also consider small-scale planting. I would like to see every farmer in this country, where possible, planting trees. To encourage that, and tackle climate change, we are drafting legislation that will allow small-scale planting of native trees, whether in groves on farms or as riparian planting to protect water quality. Between this and measures that will be incorporated into our agri-environmental schemes and a fit-for-purpose new national forestry programme, the objective is to have many more trees covering our land over the next few years.

I am concerned, however, that the public narrative on forestry right now is both too narrow and too negative. Farmers are disengaging, and, for sure, and licensing delays have played their part in that. However, woodland creation needs to be viewed as an opportunity. It is an opportunity for farm diversification as well as for meaningful environmental measures by farmers.

I thank the members of the joint committee and the House for their engagement this evening. All of us need to recognise the opportunity that the expansion of the sector affords us as a nation in respect of our economy, environment and recreational needs. I fully appreciate that delivery on licensing underpins its future development. I am firmly committed to continuing our progress in dealing with the licensing backlog.

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