Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The climate action plan 2021 highlights the importance of forestry in removing from and storing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Ireland's forests are a net sink of carbon dioxide and the timber produced also stores carbon in long-lived harvested wood products.

It is for this reason that the climate action plan recognises the importance of maintaining our forest areas, preventing deforestation and increasing the amount of wood used in construction. It also highlights the importance of afforestation.

The Climate Action Plan 2021 sets an afforestation target of 8,000 ha per year, which builds on the significant amounts of afforestation carried out since the 1990s. This target is ambitious when compared with recent afforestation rates and will be challenging to meet in the next decade. However, it something we must achieve. My Department is committed to addressing the current barriers, particularly with regard to licensing - especially afforestation licensing - which have, as we have seen, resulted in low afforestation rates in recent years.

Project Woodland, which I established earlier this year, is examining a number of work streams. This includes a focus on reducing the backlog in licensing, which is having an effect across the board in respect of licence output. It has also initiated a regulatory review, through which we will be looking at efficiencies in work processes with regard to how we deliver on licences.

Key to the success of increasing afforestation rates is the building of confidence among landowners and farmers regarding the benefits of forestry. The forestry programme has a wide range of generous grants and premiums to incentivise landowners to plant trees. I am aware that some stakeholders are calling for higher afforestation targets, in excess of 8,000 ha. That may well be required but we have to try to get on the right track and start planting the trees we need to plant. That is where we need to get to. That is what we aspire to.

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