Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Senators for their contributions. In response to Senator Boyhan's comments, most of the people I come across in the Department, within the industry and in the wider forestry sector have a passion about it. I must declare an interest at this point; my son is in his final year of forestry at University College Dublin. Last week they were in the Black Forest looking at the whole aspect of continuous cover forestry.

In a few weeks I will travel to the Finnish Forest Research Institute, where the main species of trees are birch and the conifers, Norway and Scots pine. There are a lot of things we need to get into context. In my opening statement I tried to cover all areas of the economic, social and environmental benefits. If people take the time to study what has actually transpired from the mid-term review and some of the other work we are doing with the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and with others around framework directives, they will see that there is a comprehensive policy. All plantations, following the mid-term review, have a minimum of 15% broadleaf. They can be put in a position and located. Every forest site will have to be managed individually. They can act as buffers - as aqua zones - when closer to houses, and as scenic areas. In reality, if the conifer plantation is part of it then it can be incorporated behind all of that.

Senator Wilson spoke of a number of places. In Kingscourt, at the Old Cabra estate in his area, a significant amount of money has been invested with the NeighbourWood scheme. We will continue to invest in these and others. I was at one of the NeighbourWood schemes in Balla, County Mayo. There is another one around the Vartry Reservoir at Roundwood. A drone has captured footage of what has happened since before it opened. It is located around the scenic lakes and it incorporates some 20 km of walkways so there is a lot of work being done on that whole area.

With regard to the green ribbon campaign and the Let's Talk and Walk events, I have been on a couple of these walks at Avondale House Forest Park. People have said that we should do more of these but part and parcel of the experience is that it encourages people to get out and about. It is a primer in many ways. On one of the occasions that I went out - I am a Wicklow man all right - I knew the former forest manager who was passionate about the history of Avondale. He conducted a walk and gave us the whole history of the initiatives that took place there in the early part of the 20th century. He also told us about Samuel Hayes, the original owner, who wrote the definitive book on forestry in Ireland back in the late 18th century.

Senator Lawless spoke of those who think one can just plant trees and forget about them. This was a symptom of the early days - in the late 1980s and early 1990s - of the afforestation programme. The target then was to get 10,000 ha planted. At this stage we have 21,000 private landowners. This is 48% and heading to 50% of the total forest estate that will be in private ownership. Last year we had a pilot project on knowledge transfer groups where 270 to 280 farmers took part. There is another pilot scheme on forest certification. We hope to roll out both of these pilots over the next period and it is part and parcel of the programme in the mid-term review.

With regard to tax provisions, premia and revenue received from forestry is free from capital gains for income tax. Previously it was taxable at €80,000. I am aware that some people have a problem with the replanting obligation but it is there because the owner has been given those tax incentives to promote it. Our target is to increase afforestation cover. It would seem wrong that having been a recipient of all those supports one could walk away and be able to restore the land to non-forestry uses.

I have been to Leitrim a number of times. I say this because it has come up on a number of occasions. There are some 500 jobs supported by the wood sector and it is one of the biggest employers in the area. Masonite is located there as are saw millers and hauliers. Some 380 farmers receive €2 million per year in premium payments. The north west has Masonite and ECC, which is just across the border from Mayo in Galway. These facilities have the biggest sawmills and timber processing standalone plants in the State. I do not have the figures but they are probably the biggest consumers of the wood product. Senators Grace O'Sullivan and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn made the point about the production of timber for biomass energy. It is a secondary product. It is not the main product in most cases. Forestry for fibre is a case in point for the likes of the plant that Senator Mulherin mentioned. The forestry for fibre grants have increased significantly, and they have extended from ten to 15 years, to encourage that use. With the combination of the renewable heat incentive scheme we hope it encourages a far greater uptake. I believe it is a way of working with local communities for combined heat and power plants, especially for high demand heat industries and businesses.

I will now turn to the issue of Coillte and the landowners' payments. In fairness, Coillte has put its hands up and said that there was a serious lack of communication. It has presented to me on 6 February and to the committee some time after that. Coillte has engaged KPMG and it has said that nobody who was owed money under those contracts is now owed money and that they have communicated directly with everyone involved. There was an amount of work that had been lax in its management structures, a fact that has been acknowledged by Coillte.

Going back to Leitrim, 27% of Leitrim is covered in broadleaf forest. In 2016 the average holding was 25 ha and the average plantation was 6 ha. This puts it into context. I acknowledge that some of the older plantations are blanket cover. As I have already outlined, if and when those various plantations are clear-felled they will have different setback areas, different species mix and the network of roads within the area will also create open spaces. Between the time they close in and the first thinning it is true that plantations from year seven to year 18 do look like blanket coverage, but the introduction to every plantation of the 15% broadleaf - as opposed to 10% - and with up to 15% biodiverse areas it will fundamentally change the appearance of it.

I come from a county with the highest density of plantations. I am surrounded by it and I planted some myself on marginal land. I go back to the point that the real basic aspect is that we want people to consider farming as part of their enterprise; not an either-or situation. It is really the only way we can get the afforestation numbers up. I accept that in some parts of the State it may seem attractive. Non-farmers are defined as sons and daughters or brothers and sisters of farmers, or retired farmers. In 2016 only 126 ha was planted by what we would define as corporate. There is an issue around the semi-mature plantations being bought and people selling. In some ways they are not realising the value of what they have.That is why the knowledge transfer, the forest felling tool and all of those supports, and the encouragement of producer groups, are being supported by the Department to make people aware of it. The Coillte partnerships were the first departure along the lines of some form of equity release post premia and then a share of the clear-fell revenue. I think there is space and a real opportunity to make that work so that people do not sell themselves short. It is not in the State's interest for timber to be clear-felled prematurely, because the amount of investment by the State is based on getting the maximum yield, be that in year 30, 35 or 40, or much longer in the case of broadleaves. It is in everybody's interests that we would support that and let forest owners know that there are options other than just washing their hands of it in the sense of wanting to get out once they have got the premium. That is a mistake. In Scandinavia in particular all farmers have some plantation and they see that as part of their farm enterprise but they have a tradition that we do not have so they have a greater understanding. That is something we must encourage and support.

Senator Mac Lochlainn and another speaker made a point about continuous cover forestry. Under the mid-term review, the woodland improvement scheme and the native woodland conservation scheme incorporate continuous cover forestry for mixed broadleaves in particular. They are eligible for three woodland improvement scheme payments of €750 for three separate interventions over a period of 12 years, once the work is in line with the approved transformation under the continuous cover for forest plan. It has been recognised, and to go back to the opening statement, we have introduced the new mid-term review changes to the scheme with the full approval of DG Environment in Europe. The officials were put to the sword on this one and were very anxious that we would get broadleaf plantations up to 30%. The mid-term review has addressed a lot of the concerns that existed.

On the one hand we had people saying it was disappointing that we had not reached 10,000 ha while on the other hand we had people concerned about the location and density more so than the amount. One of the issues that has been very apparent from the challenges in increasing the numbers is that the fear on broadleaves was of not being able to get them established, so the protections that are there for broadleaves such as deer fencing and tree protection covers are specifically to deal with that. On the other hand, more particularly with conifer plantations, competing uses have been the biggest challenge. We have 21,000 landowners who have planted so we are working off a diminishing platform. We have gone from 1.5% to 10.5%. We want to get to 18% but it is like trying to knock seconds off a world record. One gets down to fractions of seconds and then hundreds of seconds, so one is working off a diminishing platform. That is probably the biggest single reason we have not been able to reach the figures. It is one of them anyway. The agritaxation changes have made it very attractive to lease land for 15 years plus, so it is comparable. In general, there is enough land for everything, appropriately placed. There is enough land to reach the target of 30% broadleaves with conifers as the driver of the economic part.

In terms of sequestration, both conifers and broadleaves on maturity store about the same amount of carbon. In a way, the difference is that conifers reach maturity quicker, then they have a harvest and replant so there is a net impact in that regard. I gave the figures on carbon storage earlier. It is in everybody's best interests - economic, social and environmental, that we support this programme - that programmes will follow in 2021 and that we will continue in this vein.

We have an open mind if there are problems. I have spoken to representative groups from all quarters - the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association, INHFA, the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, foresters, the promotion people and everybody else. In the mid-term review we had a consultation period and everybody was entitled to make a submission on it. We have tried our best to address all of the concerns and at the same time to encourage afforestation.

I have a list of the promotional events we organised. We had 21 information days. We sent mailshots to 4,000 forest owners with a new afforestation leaflet. We did radio advertising. I have done a series of interviews, some of which were more challenging than others. The Department produced a newsletter. We have Farm TV, and we were responsible for miscellaneous articles in various publications. We are trying to raise awareness. It is about going back to the farmer, the landowner, which brings in rural communities. This is meant to be part of the farm enterprise. Farmers must profile their own farm and work out if some of it could yield them money, and build an asset which would yield a return to them or their successors and allow them to enhance the remainder of the farm without compromising the productivity of the conventional farming enterprise. I think it can and I think that is something we should look at.

I referred to a farm of 25 ha where 6 ha was planted, which is a quarter. That is probably typical although in some places it might be less and in other places more. I would encourage people to get behind afforestation and look at the facts and the reality. The debate does get very passionate in parts of the country. I appreciate that. I have done my best not to provoke anybody, but I come from a county that has a higher tree density than anywhere else in the country so I have some authority in being able to speak about the experience. We have had a culture of afforestation since the 1950s. We have had sawmills and people working in timber, garden sheds, post and rail mills for structural wood production and people working with what is now Coillte. It has been part and parcel of what I grew up with, although I accept it may be different for others. It is something that can be of benefit if it is managed correctly.