Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The supply of timber this time last year was a very significant worry for the sector. There was deep concern among sawmills about where their supply would come from. I am pleased to say that in the past 12 months we have worked really hard to make significant improvements in that regard. Each week the Department publishes extensive information on forestry licensing and forestry-related statistics on the weekly forestry dashboard. Unfortunately, I do not have with me the year-by-year figures; I have the overall five-year figures. I will send on the specific details of the year-by-year figures the Deputy has requested. In the past five years, more than 14,000 tree felling licences have issued. My Department commenced compiling its own timber volume data for issued tree felling licences last year, when the 1,700 felling licences issued covered a volume of just over 5 million cu. m. To date this year, to the end of November, more than 7.7 million cu. m of timber has been licensed. That is expected to be about 8 million cu. m by the end of the year. That will be the highest volume of timber ever licensed in a single year and highlights the improvements we have made in the issuing of felling licences in the past 12 months.

Coillte's 2022 felling programme will be fully complete by year end, which again instils confidence in the sawmill sector. Coillte recently completed its contract position to Irish sawmills for 2022, which means that those sawmills enter next year with some certainty around their supply, which certainly was not the case this time last year.

The Central Statistics Office compiles data on actual volumes of timber harvested from forests based on surveys. I have been advised that timber harvested from Irish forests ranges from 3.6 million to 3.9 million cu. m over the period 2017-20. This volume harvested closely relates to the capacity of Ireland's forests to produce timber based on the age of forest crops.

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