Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Boyhan for his continuing interest in the really important sector of forestry in Ireland. I welcome the opportunity to update him and other Senators on the progress that has been made on the application for state aid approval for the new forestry programme.

As the Senator will know, and he alluded to it in his opening speech, the Government has committed to a €1.3 billion new forestry programme, which is the biggest and largest funded forestry programme ever introduced by any government here. It has been designed to have an emphasis on close-to-nature forestry and ensure that farmers will be its primary beneficiaries.

Senators will be also aware from the many hours we have spent already discussing it in this Chamber that the forestry programme 2023 to 2027 is subject to state aid approval from the European Commission and is also subject to an ongoing strategic environmental assessment, SEA, and appropriate assessment, AA, process, which is a critical step in the process of securing state aid approval. The new state aid approval rules only came into force at the start of 2023 and we were not in a position to begin our process in advance of this. From the first opportunity when the new rules came into force, my Department has been engaging intensively with the Commission. This has involved a huge effort by all involved in my Department.I am pleased to confirm that the formal state aid notification for the new forestry programme has been submitted and we are now awaiting formal approval of the Commission for the programme. This is not something I or my Department are in control of. It really is in the hands of the Commission but we are satisfied that we have made the best possible submission and have addressed their concerns.

Not all schemes under the programme require state aid approval under the guidelines. Earlier this week, under the agricultural block exemption regulation, my Department opened two schemes for applications, the forest roads scheme and the innovative forest technology scheme - module 2 investment aid for the development of the forest tree nursery sector. It is important to note, however, that no new approvals can issue under these or any other schemes until the appropriate environmental processes have been concluded. However, it should also be noted that all afforestation files currently in the system will continue to be processed up to the point of approval, and once we get the State aid approval we will be able to issue those licences.

While the Department cannot issue licences for grant-aided afforestation, roads or forestry support schemes until the new programme is in place, felling licences have continued to issue. To date in 2023, 957 felling licences have issued for 11,000 ha. In recognition of the need for planting activity to continue, and pending the launch of the new programme, my Department engaged with the Commission last December to secure an interim solution, which has led to the introduction of an interim afforestation scheme, via general de minimis, an interim forest road scheme and an interim ash dieback reconstitution and underplanting scheme. This ensured that those with valid licence approvals issued before the end of 2022 could avail of the current planting season under the higher grant and premium rates proposed to be paid under the new programme. To date in 2023, a total of 261 applications have been approved under the interim afforestation scheme, representing more than 1,000 ha. Under the interim roads scheme, 71 approvals have issued representing more than 27,000 m. Of the 1,583 ha approved in 2023 for afforestation under the interim scheme, over 700 ha of planting has been completed and planting has commenced on a further area in excess of 500 ha. In addition, we have in the first quarter of this year paid for the planting of 195 ha carried out under the previous forestry programme, which will also be included in the 2023 planting figures.

Forestry payments continue to issue under the old programme. In the first quarter of 2023, there has been a total spend of €42,728,570, mainly on forestry premiums for existing forests, with more than €4 million of that figure paid in grants so far this year.