Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Quite frankly, the state aid rules were not available to us until January. We could not have made a submission on 1 January because we did not know what the rules were and could not engage with them. Unfortunately, we could not do anything about that. The last programme was extended by two years. In terms of afforestation over the past couple of years there was a drop-off for all sorts of reasons, but also because it was anticipated that a new programme would be available. That is typical of any final year of an old scheme. People tend to wait.

Trees have been planted this year. We opened up a de minimisscheme for people who had existing licences, which was approved by the end of last year. We have 6,000 ha of approved licences and, I understand, more than 1,500 ha have been planted this year under the de minimis scheme. Anyone who had a licence could apply for this and avail of the proposed new funding. Quite a few farmers availed of that.

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