Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for taking this question on the forestry programme. As I am sure the Minister of State is aware, the rather severe decline in the forestry planting figures over the past number of years is an issue of concern to the Department.

I want to outline my thoughts on the information I have received from people in the forestry sector as to why this is happening. Between 2010 and 2011, I understand there has been a 30% drop in the planting of land in some parts of the country. Even the modest 7,000 ha being targeted for planting in 2012 will not be met this year. The Minister of State might have more up to date figures on the monthly rates for this year.

This has all come about because of two directives from the Department on unenclosed land. I always wonder about a policy change that is announced on 23 December 2010, which is when the threshold of 20% of unenclosed land with any new plantation was set. The grant was reduced from €3,440 to €2,000 per ha and the premium was reduced from €2,214 to €155 per ha. It seems as if the change in policy was designed to stop people planting land in some parts of the country.

The rules on enclosed land were further tightened by another change in policy on 3 November 2011. Any land that was formerly unenclosed or unimproved and had been modified by fencing, draining or anything else since 1 January 2004 was no longer deemed to be improved. Rather, it was deemed to be unenclosed and unimproved even though, in some instances, land may have been fenced off for eight years.

There seems to be an agenda and policy change which does not seem to have the aim of increasing the amount of bad land, which is fit for very little else other than forestry, being planted in parts of the country. As the Minister of State is aware, because of the improvement in agricultural prices, the demand for good land will not be transferred into forest land. Marginal land which may have been available for forestry plantation is no longer being considered for that purpose. I am concerned that the target of 7,000 ha we aim to plant in 2012 will not be met. I would like to hear the thoughts of the Minister of State on the issue.