Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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55. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the forestry programme; if he can provide a timeline for when it is expected that state aid approval will be reached from the European Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25113/23]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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My question almost follows on from some of the comments the Minister of State made already. It is to seek an update concerning the new forestry programme.

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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The Deputy is aware we have our proposed new €1.3 billion programme, which will replace the last one. It is ambitious and has been increased in terms of supports for farmers. It is more cognisant of the impact of forestry on our environment. We have had to factor in all those issues and we believe we have developed a progressive and ambitious programme. We are keen that it is approved as soon as possible. As the Deputy is aware, the new programme is subject to state aid approval. It is also subject to an ongoing strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment process, which is well advanced.

Prior to our formal submission, we have been engaging intensively with the Commission. We made the submission last month. I think it was in the middle of April, but I will check the date for the Deputy. Our submission is in the hands of the Commission now. It will work internally. The submission will be sent to the Directorate-General for Competition and it will then engage internally with other directorates-general on it.

While we have not heard anything from the Commission yet, we expect to hear very shortly. We may still have queries to be addressed.

If there are any amendments to be made, we will be able to make them. Ultimately, we are very keen to address this. We know it is frustrating for farmers to wait. It is also frustrating for forestry companies. We flagged in advance that it would take time. This is the process. There is not much we could have done about it. We could not do anything until the new year. We engaged with the Commission to try to progress as much as we could before we made a formal submission. A formal submission has been made and we eagerly await a response from the Commission because we want to get this programme up and running as soon as possible.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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Given that the submission was not made until the middle of April and the former forestry programme had been extended, is it not fair to say that the submission should have been prepared and ready to go earlier in the year, rather than in the middle of April? We are now towards the end of May. As someone put it to me the other day, we are in the middle of a major climate crisis and we cannot plant trees. I find that extraordinary.

The Minister of State said the new programme is ambitious. It sounds good. That is great, but it still does not exist for people who are interested in it. I imagine the number of those interested in getting into forestry is seriously dwindling. It goes back to my earlier point regarding confidence in the sector. People cannot plant trees today. We are nearly into June and we do not have a forestry programme for the next four years. How much longer will people have to wait? Is there any timeline? Do we know how long other countries which have sought this approval have waited? Do we have any indication at all how much longer people and the sector will have to wait for this programme?

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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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.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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Other countries in the EU managed to get around this in terms of what was announced and the wait for state aid approval. I am not sure about the argument the Minister of State has made. At the end of the day, we are nearly into June and do not have a forestry programme. Planting season will be almost finished before we have a programme. People are still waiting. This is leading to a worsening of confidence in the sector, a sector which was already bad enough to begin with. Does the Minister State envisage that the 8,000 ha target will be met?

Regarding licensing, there have been major issues with that on an almost annual basis. Can the Minister of State give confidence to the sector that when the new forestry programme is in place we will not see backlogs and major issues with licensing? Can the she give a commitment to the sector that those issues will not arise again when the new forestry programme eventually comes to fruition?

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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In other European countries, they do forestry differently. We are an outlier because have a massive ambition to increase afforestation. A lot of European countries are not in that boat; they are maintaining what they have and managing it differently. I understand some forestry support across Europe comes through the CAP which is a different process and was negotiated at a different time. That might be a discrepancy in terms of us having to apply for state aid approval.

I can assure the Deputy and anyone listening that we have streamlined the licensing process over the past two years. There is no issue in terms of felling licences. That was where the crisis was when I took over as Minister of State. That has all been cleared up and is no longer in issue. There is no issue with supply. Afforestation licences will be issued when we are able to under the new programme. We issue a significant number of afforestation licences, but it is the follow-up in terms of planting that is the problem. I accept that is partially due to confidence in the sector.

We have heard from other discussions today that there is pressure in terms of other land uses. Farmers may have afforestation licences and wonder whether they will use them within a year or so. I encourage them to use them. We all look forward to new programme being available as soon as possible.