Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank my Seanad colleagues for the invitation to speak today. I also welcome Deputy Cahill to the Seanad. I very much welcome the detailed consideration that went into this report. I and my Department have had several engagements with the committee since the report's publication last March, and we have updated members on the steps being taken to address the recommendations made.

The most significant step in dealing with the challenges the forestry sector faces, as identified in the report, has been the establishment of Project Woodland, which was launched a year ago this month, using Ms Jo O’Hara’s report as a blueprint for the implementation of the Mackinnon report on forestry licences. Members of the joint committee recommended Ms O’Hara’s appointment, and her report is the basis for Project Woodland. The project has twin objectives. It aims first to improve the licensing system and deal with the backlog, and then to drive forward the planting of trees under a shared vision for forestry in Ireland.

It is important to say the entire project depends on active stakeholder involvement, and I have been impressed by the engagement of the approximately 25 members of the forestry policy group, selected from a range of stakeholders including industry, State agencies, environmental NGOs and community groups.It really encompasses the whole breadth of those who are involved and concerned with forestry now and into the future. There are four working groups and each one will focus on a specific area. Most importantly, each of the four working groups is chaired by an independent person. All four report for a project board which is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department. There are three independent members, including Joe O'Hara, so there is independent oversight. We obviously need to involve the Department in that too because ultimately we will have to implement the findings. The project board has to date published three interim reports on the implementation of Project Woodland and continues to closely monitor progress.

As Members will appreciate, forestry stakeholders as I identified come from many different perspectives so there is no simple quick fix to the issues at hand. It is important we get everyone working together. Afforestation, well planned and executed, counts towards our climate change mitigation efforts, can enhance biodiversity, improve water quality, and provide recreational opportunity, as we have seen in recent times. As highlighted by Senator Kyne the forestry sector supports economic development and employment creation in rural areas in particular, and in our drive towards a carbon neutral economy provides alternatives for fossil fuel-based materials in construction and energy generation. Forestry has so much to offer and it is important that we realise its potential and promote its benefits. Underpinning all of this, of course, must be a well-functioning licensing system and much of our focus in the past year has been on improving licence output.

One of the common threads of today's debate has been about rebuilding confidence in land owners and in farmers to plant and to engage with forestry and see it as a viable land-use option for their farms. We achieved a good result in 2021. We issued more than 4,000 licences which was an increase of 50% on 2020. The committee recommended in its report that additional resources be allocated to deal with the backlog, and this increase in output is reflective of the additional resources we have put in place. We are keeping resource requirements under continuous review and further ecologists and forestry inspectors are being recruited.

Senator Carrigy will be glad to hear that there is no supply of timber into the sawmill sector, having dealt with the issues for the past 12 months, so that is a positive development. Alongside this, we have introduced new processes which have led to more efficient processing. There are concerns as well and Senators Conway and Lombard highlighted the concerns in regard to importation. At the end of the day we export 80% of sawn wood products from our country and more than 80% of panel products. We are a net exporter of timber. In regard to importation we have seen a significant reduction in past months in terms of importation from Scotland. That is to be welcomed and it came off the back of, I admit, a fairly lengthy period of higher imports than we would have liked. Hopefully that will set the course for the future.

Of course as part of Project Woodland an entire regulatory and process review is under way. We engaged a systems analyst to look at our business and IT systems and her recommendations are now being implemented. Senator Lombard alluded to such concerns so that is being implemented. A very extensive and comprehensive review of the legislative and regulatory licensing system is nearing completion, and I expect that it will be presented to the project board in the next week or so. This will address, among other things, the case for the introduction of a single consent system. Senator Burke and others have called for a single consent system. These calls have been heard but, to put it in context, forestry is a long-term project. Each of the pieces in that project can be significant land-use changes in its own right. That is why the system we have at the moment has been set up like that.

A number of Members also looked for an agreed timeframe in terms of the licensing process and for this to be enshrined in a customer charter. Again, this is our aim. We are waiting for the results of the processing legislative review which will help inform us, and help us make a decision, if we can indeed make that decision. It is worth noting that it takes in the region of about six months to get planning permission for a house. An afforestation site of 7 ha, which is the average area planted, would be a significantly more invasive aspect on our landscape than a house on maybe a quarter-acre site. To keep that in context, we do not have a really tight thing for housing planning, and I am not saying we should not have for forestry, but to keep a practical mind to it. Our average time at the moment is about ten or 11 months for a licence. It is too long. We are working to bring that back.

There is a sense from some that the rate of progress under Project Woodland has not been as quick as expected, but these are complex issues. There is no silver bullet. We need to spend the time now to get the issues resolved so that we have a worthwhile solution in the end. It is a very long-term project we are talking about, of some 20, 30 or 40 years and beyond, and we need to get it right. I hope that the recently published licensing plan for 2022 will inject some confidence into the system and will provide assurances to farmers and forest owners that we are dealing with the backlog. Under the plan we have committed to issuing 5,250 licences, with clear targets across Coillte felling, private felling, forest roads and afforestation. This target is a year-on-year increase of 30% and represents a 48% increase of private felling, roads and afforestation files. Coillte felling licences will be maintained at the levels they achieved in 2021. This is important because Coillte supplies 75% of product into our sawmills. I am aware that the committee is concerned, as we all are, with the decline in farmer participation in afforestation. This is a cause for concern, especially in light of our target of 8,000 ha of new planting per year, as contained in the climate action plan.

There are many factors that influence the decision to plant, and certainly improving licensing output has a role to play in building that confidence among farmers and landowners. That is why we intend to double the number of afforestation licences to more than 1,000 this year. It has been alluded to in the Chamber that the conversion rate from licensing to planting is at about 64%. This means we have a disproportionate amount of processing effort both by the Department and forestry companies which is essentially going to waste. We need to change that. We need to get much better at communicating the benefits of forestry to those who we are trying to encourage to plant trees. On most farms, planting can comfortably coexist with livestock enterprises and can significantly increase the net income from the holding. Farmers who plant trees on a portion of their lands can continue to engage in their traditional farm enterprises. They can also continue to receive their basic payments on planted lands. They will receive grants to cover establishment costs, generous tax-free premia over 15 years and substantial tax-free income at thinning and harvesting times. We must work together to communicate this positive message.

Senator Carrigy asked about the 450 licence holders, which equates to about 4,000 ha, who have had a licence for six months or longer and have not planted yet. We will this week be writing to those applicants who have unused licences to remind them of the benefits of forestry and to encourage them to use their licence before it lapses. It is valid for three years. We will also ask them voluntarily why they are not using their licences. It is important to say at this point, the pressure from other land-use sectors has a significant part in this. Dairy expansion over the past eight to ten years has put pressure on land use in those areas where we might have liked to see more trees in the past. There are decisions for farmers to make all the time.

The quality of applications is a crucial factor in terms of a responsive licensing system. In three of our forestry districts, foresters can now contact the Department to have a pre-application discussion on afforestation applications. This is a pilot initiative under Project Woodland and we hope to roll it out nationwide in due course.

The committee highlighted the need to re-engage farmers and to have sufficient supports to encourage them to enter, re-enter and remain within the forestry programme. This is the last year of the current forestry programme so we are in the process of developing a new one for next year. Deputy Cahill asked whether in the years to come we will look back and ask what were we doing in 2022 to support the forestry sector. One significant aspect of this is the development of a new forest strategy for our country which aims to encompass a shared national vision for the future of forestry and trees in our environment, throughout our country.The proposed vision statement focuses on having the right tree in the right place for the right reasons and the right management. I refer to supporting a sustainable and thriving economy and society and a healthy environment. The multifunctional aspect is ever more important. For the vision to be shared with everyone, we will require broad sectoral input and buy-in, and we hope to achieve this through extensive public consultation and bilateral engagement with stakeholders. We are going to be talking to youth groups, and we have already spoken to some of them. We are going to have a public consultation and a deliberative dialogue, a mini-citizens' assembly, on the future of forestry. We have also recruited Irish Rural Link to engage with rural communities, specifically those blacked out over the years because of poor decisions in the past.

A lot of work is ongoing and much remains to be done. The idea is to have this forest strategy in place before the end of the year and to also embark this year on designing our new forestry programme. The queries concerning how long we pay premiums for, if we can go back to a 20-year timeframe and if we can increase the amounts are all issues that need to be teased out. They come at a cost to the public purse, and any proposed increases must be justified. This is an exciting year for forestry and I reiterate the importance of getting it right.

The new programme will focus on the importance of climate-smart forestry and new afforestation will be encouraged in pursuit of economic, climate, water, biodiversity and recreational objectives. The recreational perspective was raised by several Members. Senators Garvey and Boyhan highlighted the importance of trees in respect of their recreational amenity value. My Department has a NeighbourWood scheme for local communities to avail of. I visited the one in Abbeyleix, which was the first one in Laois, several months ago. It is a 1.5-acre site close to the centre of Abbeyleix. It was a disused area and now in the years to come it will be a wonderful woodland for that community. That multifunctional aspect of forestry is incredibly important.

Later today, I will also be here for the Committee Stage of enabling legislation that will hopefully allow the small-scale planting of native trees, up to 1 ha, without the need for farmers and landowners to go through the onerous licensing system. This should appeal to certain landowners and it has the potential to increase the proportion of native broadleaf afforestation, while it will also account for afforestation levels in our carbon inventories at EU level. That can be a positive move.

Turning to another matter raised by some Senators, including Senator Paul Daly, namely, ash dieback, it is a concerning issue. The Senators might be glad to know that I will be submitting in the next couple of days a written report to the committee concerning ash dieback in Ireland and the lessons we have learned. I note that the committee supports research on the development of varieties of ash trees that will be resistant to this disease. Research is ongoing in this area through Teagasc, and our Department has funded such research initiatives. Details of the research will be contained in the report I mentioned.

Since 2013, there have been two ash dieback schemes and we have spent €7.6 million on them. The most recent scheme was set up in June 2020, just before I took up office. The scheme followed an extensive review of the previous ash dieback scheme. Under this new programme, we have received 520 new applications, representing more than 2,200 ha, under RUS. This year, we have committed to refocusing on approvals under that scheme. It has been outlined in our licensing plan for 2022 as well. The question of the grants paid under RUS is always a concern. The grants currently cover the full costs of clearing sites and replanting them with an alternative species. Perhaps we can discuss this in more detail following the receipt of the report.

The implementation of Project Woodland remains a priority for me and my Department. The project is set to address, in the main, the recommendations contained in the committee's report. While my Department must and will play its part, this is very much a shared endeavour. If all of us work together towards a common goal, we will realise the potential of forestry and trees in Ireland.

I do not think I have missed many outstanding points. I dealt with the independent review, and that has been highlighted a great deal.

Regarding Senator Hoey's question on hedgerows, what I had implied previously was not that we choose to not record them; rather, we are not able to do so yet. Work is under way between Teagasc and the Environmental Protection Agency in this regard. It is not under our Department's remit, but an effort to calculate and value hedgerows is under way. We might, hopefully, be able to measure it by the end of this year. The Senator's point, I think, was that if we were to measure this attribute, we would find that we are not in a great situation. She is right that we should not shy away from the actual situation as it stands.

Other than that, I thank the Senators again for their contributions. We must work together on this topic. We are making progress, but there is still much to do. We are certainly in a much better position now than we were this time last year or even last March. Let us build on that. I thank the House.