Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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133. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his response to the ongoing failure of his Department to meet forestry licence issuance and afforestation targets consistently. [61322/22]

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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We have dealt with this matter time and again at the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The Minister of State cannot deny at this stage that the Department's performance in forestry licensing is putting many prospective foresters off planting. While we may have problems now, we are facing into major ones down the road because of this. We have an annual target of 8,000 ha, yet afforestation stands at only 2,200 ha this week. This is coupled with the snail's pace of the reconstitution and underplanting scheme, RUS. The Minister of State needs to recognise that she and the Department are failing.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Senator Pippa Hackett):

I thank the Deputy for this question. Contrary to his understanding, I am pleased to advise that, due to the continued high output in forestry licensing this year, we have seen considerable reductions in the backlog of forestry licences and a year-on-year increase in the number of licences issued. We have invested significantly and strategically in easing the licensing backlog. We are issuing more licences than applications received, which is leading to faster turnaround times for new applicants.

At the start of the year, we published a forestry licensing plan for 2022 that contained a target of 5,250 licences, an increase of 30% on 2021. By 2 December 2022, we had issued nearly 4,500 licences, which was 92% of our expected output by this point in the year. There are more than 1,000 approved afforestation licences, with just under 7,500 ha ready for planting. These improved outputs have been achieved through a commitment to continuous improvement as well as through a significant investment in resources. The positive impact of these measures can be seen in the increased number of licences issuing. This increase in licence output will remove one of the perceived barriers to planting.

I am acutely aware of the afforestation target of 8,000 ha per year set out in the Climate Action Plan and the fact that afforestation rates have been declining in recent years. As the Deputy may know, the current forestry programme provides supports for afforestation, including grants and premiums, and covers the cost of establishing a forest. Despite strong support for landowners over a period of 15 years, we have not achieved the level of planting anticipated. We hope that the new forestry programme will re-engage landowners, particularly farmers, and realise the necessary change in land use. This will be the best-funded forestry programme in the history of the State, with €1.3 billion committed to its implementation. It is a significant vote of confidence in forestry as a public good and in farmers in particular.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State is in fairyland. The Government can congratulate itself all it likes, but its targets are not being met. Only 4,728 ha have been licensed this year. That is not an achievement, but a missed target.

This topic has taken up most of the time of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine since I have been a member of it. Time and again, we have been told that the system is not working. What is holding the Department back? Why are private licences faring the worst? This is being noticed and commented on by foresters, a growing number of whom are no longer choosing to plant. There is a problem in our forestry sector now, but this Government will be responsible for a greater problem 20 or 25 years down the road when no one will be planting. There is frustration in the sector no matter where one turns. Under the RUS, foresters have waited more than two years just to get letters from the Department seeking more information.

The Minister of State mentioned that the situation was going well. The Mackinnon report spawned other reports, but even it is not being adhered to.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Senator Pippa Hackett):

I can only reassure the Deputy. The weekly figures on how many forestry licences are being issued, the areas involved, the road lengths in question and so forth can be accessed through our Department's website. There has been a significant turnaround in the two and a half years since this Government took office. The House will be aware that we ground to a halt because of European court judgments against Ireland. We were not doing what we should have been doing, resulting in our Department having to transform how it issued licences. We have done that well and we have made year-on-year improvements since then. With a new forestry programme in place from next year, a new forest strategy and more money than ever to incentivise and support farmers in planting trees, we are going to see a step change in the number of trees planted and farmer engagement with forestry.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the increased premiums and grants, but faith in the system needs to be regained among farmers and foresters. Lengthy delays in processing applications are resulting in many choosing not to plant. They foresee the same delays happening down the road as affected felling licences.

There is another area of discontent. Coillte's felling licences are above target. If we are to see a resolution to the crisis and to avert it dissuading potential new entrants, a new statutory period within which a decision is provided to applicants needs to be established. The Mackinnon report needs to be implemented in a fashion similar to Scotland. We need movement on reports, not more reports on reports that end up sitting on shelves. Targets are being missed today, the impact of which will be felt years down the road.

I hope this is the last conversation we have on missing targets.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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I appreciate the progress the Department has made but the reality is that while there is an increase and it is an improvement, it is from a very low base which nobody could possibly defend. The question is whether the Department is meeting its targets. The last time I was in this Chamber with Deputy Fitzmaurice the Minister of State accused him of being very negative. People cannot be legitimately accused of being negative for pointing out the obvious.

I very much welcome the new forestry programme and the additional funding. With inflation running at 10%, the failure to index-link it is a problem. For the ten years that inflation was low, it was not a problem but the position is different when inflation is as it has been for the last 12 months. The Minister of State will know better than I do, from sitting at Cabinet, what the predictions are for inflation for the next decade. A sizeable number of economists believe we have entered into a new cycle of interest rates and inflation will remain very high. That will eat into the additional money provided.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Senator Pippa Hackett):

I acknowledge that confidence is low in the sector and we need to work towards regaining that confidence. I would like to think that the new forestry programme will help with that in a significant way. Unfortunately, I can do nothing about the base, which was there before I started. We can only move in one direction, as I believe we are doing, and that is improving and delivering licences like never before, or certainly not in recent years. We are at 92% of expected output, which is a good place to be. Coillte tends to get more licences because it supplies 60% or 70% of timber to the sawmill sector. That comparison is continually made but it is about the supply chain and ensuring there is an adequate supply of timber into the saw mill sector. That had ground to a halt when I took office. There are improvements across the board in forestry.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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The issue is with speed.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Senator Pippa Hackett):

I hope they will continue.