Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As he knows, I have provided numerous briefings to outline the position and the challenges we have had over the past six months. The factual position is that we are between forestry programmes. We are currently waiting for state aid approval of our new forestry programme. That means we have not been in a position to issue new licences in recent months and will be unable to do so until we get that new programme in place. We have, however, put an interim programme in place in order that trees can be planted under outgoing and existing licences. The really significant step we have taken is to introduce new premium rates, which increase the premium grants available to those who plant forestry by between 40% and 60%. For family farms, we have increased the number of years it is possible to get premium grants from 15 to 20. This means that someone who plants native broadleaf trees will receive €1,100 per year per hectare tax free for 20 years. That means that over the next 20 years, €22,000 will be available tax free. We also need a new forestry programme to enable those premiums to show their benefits and to see forestry numbers increase.

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