Dáil debates

Thursday, 9 March 2023

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions

Forestry Sector

9:10 am

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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3. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount of new afforestation in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023. [11760/23]

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Our forestry sector is in absolute disarray and turmoil. I would appreciate if the Minister of State could confirm to the House that she finally recognises that fact, that measures are being taken to address it and, specifically, that the new forestry scheme has been submitted to the European Commission.

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

I thank Deputy Carthy. His question on my listing was to ask about the new afforestation from 2019 onwards, so I am happy to address that and the rest of his queries and comments.

New afforestation planting in the years 2019 to 2023, inclusive, is as follows: in 2019, there were 3,550 ha; in 2020, there were 2,434 ha; in 2021, there were 2,016 ha; in 2022, there were 2,273 ha; and to date in 2023, there have been 114 ha. The Deputy will be aware that new planting numbers have decreased in recent years due to various factors, including Covid-19, licensing issues and the wait-and-see attitude adopted by some applicants in the last years of the outgoing programme in anticipation of the higher grant rates that are now available under the new programme the Department announced late last year. The Deputy will know that the substantial issue with licensing has been resolved and that I launched an interim afforestation scheme to enable those applicants with valid approvals to opt into a scheme offering the new grant and premium rates contained in the draft forestry programme to bridge the lacuna between the old and new forestry programmes. To date this year, nearly 1,120 ha have been approved for planting in 2023 under those new interim arrangements. This planting is currently taking place and it is also important to note that non-grant-aided replanting, or reforestation, continues to take place every year, as is evidenced in the recent national forestry inventory.

It is my expectation and the expectation of Minister, Deputy McConalogue, that the proposed increases announced for the new programme will encourage increased uptake in afforestation numbers and that the ambitious targets of the new forestry programme can be met over the next five years and achieve the economic, environmental, climate change, biodiversity, and recreational and social benefits of this vital land use option.

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Again there is a recognition of some of the failures but not of the failure of the Minister of State's Department. The prevailing failure was very stark when, on 8 February, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, told the agriculture committee that 1,000 ha had been planted in January.

The members of the committee were pleasantly surprised but the figure surprised them as that would mark a sea change. When that was put to the Minister he said, "Yes, there has been a sea change". However, it turned out that the figure was actually 66 ha. The Minister of State, Senator Hackett, was in the room with Deputy McConalogue when he made that statement. All the senior officials dealing with afforestation in the Department were in the room and not one corrected him, to say he was out by several hundred percentage points in his assertion. My question again is, what is going to happen in the immediacy in regard to the new forestry scheme? At the moment there is a bizarre situation whereby if somebody has land and wants to enter into afforestation, he or she cannot even submit an application. That is how ludicrous the situation is at present.

9:20 am

Senator Pippa Hackett:

I thank the Deputy. At the committee to which he refers, I believe what the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, was referring to was the number of afforestation licences approved at that time. That would have been in the region of 1,000 ha. That is the intent for people to plant. They requested these afforestation licences under this interim phase with the intention of planting those trees. I hope, and indeed expect, that all 1,000 ha and more will be planted under the interim arrangements. In the meantime my Department officials are incredibly busy. To get this State aid approval piece concluded is an incredibly complex process. Officials were in Brussels yesterday meeting with the European Commission on this. I am hopeful we will be making our formal submission in a matter of weeks. A great deal of work has been done behind the scenes. That work needs to be done. We need to make sure this is right, that it fits the criteria, the environmental requirements and the fit-for-purpose programme for farmers. However, mark my words, farmers are interested in it. Anecdotally, Teagasc and other advisers indicate that farmers are reaching out and engaging with the new programme.

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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It is the middle of March and so far we are unable to process any new applications because our formal application to the European Commission has not yet been made. In January the Minister was asked specifically how many hectares were planted. He said 1,000 ha. That is important because the 1,000 ha the Minister of State has cited might be virtually all of the planting that will take place in the first half of this year. Just 1,000 ha when the target is 8,000 ha per annum; that has been missed every single year, wildly, since the Minister of State has been in Government. The only notable thing we can say she has achieved is putting her signature to a Letter of Expectation to Coillte that allowed it to engage in the Gresham House joint venture. That is the only thing we can credit her with in her term as Minister of State with responsibility for afforestation. As a Green Party Minister of State, she needs to take her share of the blame for the absolute debacles we have. We are missing our climate action targets in regard to tree planting by miles.

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Go raibh maith agat. We are over time.

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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That will have serious implications for generations to come.

Senator Pippa Hackett:

I am fully aware of the need to meet our afforestation targets. In fact 8,000 ha per year may not be enough. In the future we may have to go to much higher levels.

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State expects someone else to do it for her.

Senator Pippa Hackett:

I am fully aware of that. My Department is fully aware of that and my party colleagues are fully aware of that. That is why we are doing everything we can to get this programme off the ground from within my Department. We engaged extensively on this with the public in advance over the past year and a half. Forestry is not a matter of quickly doing it and that is it. Forestry is a long-term, permanent land use change. We have to get it right. I accept the frustrations and indeed the Deputy’s frustration with the rate of progress. Mark my words, the effort in the background to get this State aid approval across the line is immense. I have every faith in my officials that they will do that as soon as possible.