Seanad debates
Thursday, 28 September 2023
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Forestry Sector
9:30 am
Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Hackett. I wish to convey to her on my own behalf and on behalf of the House our deepest sympathies to her on the very sad passing of her father. We send our deepest sympathies and hope she and her family are doing the best they can in these difficult times.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter. I thank the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, for agreeing to take this Commencement matter. She is, after all, the lead Minister in relation to forestry and I acknowledge that. The European Commission has now approved under the EU state aid rules Ireland’s new forestry programme. We are now at the start, albeit somewhat delayed. We had much debate and engagement. I certainly had a great deal of engagement on the matter with the Department and the Minister. We are where we are. We now have an ambitious programme of €1.3 billion up and running. It will run from 2023 to 2027. Targets are a key aspect of the programme. The target of the scheme is to reach 18% forestry cover in Ireland by the end of 2027. I do not know how that will be achieved. Let us live in hope. The trajectory of the targets is going in that direction. It is ambitious and there is much to do. I am of the view that it is time we had a national forestry authority to help to restore the confidence of farmers, foresters and forestry growers in the industry. As Members know, currently we have Coillte, which despite what some people might think, is not the national forestry authority of Ireland. We have the Department’s own forestry section within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Both of these are doing exceptionally good work. We also have the private sector. The breakdown is around 48% and 52% between both private and public. That is quite high. I was surprised that the public sector forestry is as high as it is. The Social Economic Environmental Forestry Association, SEEFA, is one of the largest forestry groups in Ireland. SEEFA has expressed frustration continuously with the Department for its refusal to meet and engage with it. Many Senators and Deputies will have received correspondence yesterday, 27 September, setting out its concerns and its frustration. I am not getting into dialogue about the ins and outs of the Department because I am not privy to all the facts. It would not be appropriate. Suffice to say that SEEFA has expressed absolute frustration. On numerous occasions I have appealed to the Minister at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine to meet SEEFA. I would do so again. As I said, Coillte and the forestry section in the Department do exceptional and important work, which needs to continue. However, I believe that the national forestry authority for which I am advocating, and for which many others before me have advocated, would drive the industry forward, would listen to the State and the private sectors together and would provide an equal pitch for both. The Taoiseach has said about forestry that he sees a synergy, a co-operation and a partnership with the private sector. I have no issues with the private sector. We want trees planted in the right places, as the Minister of State constantly says. Such an authority could for example take regulatory responsibilities, deal with licences and related planning and planting matters, and ensure a more fair and open competition and regulation sector and allow transparency right across the sector. If we have to be successful, and I know the Minister of State buys into this, we need to work equally – “equally” being the operative word here – with both the public and the private sector. We need to enter into a new spirit of partnership and co-operation with all people, be it small forestry people, farmers, foresters, nursery growers, arboriculturists that is, the whole array of people who interplay in this industry. I call for serious consideration to be given to an independent State forestry board.
Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Boyhan and call the Minister of State, Senator Hackett.
Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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Before I start, I thank the Cathaoirleach on behalf of the House for expressing sympathies on the passing of my Dad, Lucien Powers. Both he and my Mum, Jeannie, sat very proudly in the Visitors' Gallery here when I gave my maiden speech in this wonderful Chamber, in November 2019. That is a happy memory for us all.
Turning now to the Commencement matter at hand, I thank Senator Boyhan for bringing forward this matter and for his continued interest in the forestry sector. As he is aware, the Government has committed €1.3 billion to the new forestry programme, which is the biggest and best-funded forestry programme ever introduced by any Government to date. The forestry programme is by far the most environmentally ambitious to date. It will deliver public good for the benefit of all and will contribute to our key environmental objectives of climate change, biodiversity and water quality. Collaboration has been central to the development of this new programme. It is the result of comprehensive engagement and public consultation and emanates from the document, the Shared National Vision for Trees, Woods and Forests in Ireland until 2050, which was published last year.Inputs were sought from a broad range of stakeholders during this consultation process, which included a public attitude survey, an online survey, a citizens' assembly-style deliberative dialogue, bilateral engagement with more than 30 separate stakeholder groups and engagement with community groups through Foróige and Irish Rural Link. A stakeholder working group that included representatives from the public and private forestry sectors helped develop this new vision and the new forestry strategy. It is through this coalition that we now have a renewed blueprint for the delivery of our shared forestry objectives.
The forestry programme is the main implementation vehicle for the forestry strategy in the immediate to short term and was launched recently, on 6 September. It is essential that ongoing stakeholder engagement and communications structures are continued to ensure a successful outcome for the forestry programme. I intend to establish a new governance framework to facilitate this. A new set of deliverables will be established to implement the forestry programme and a new forestry programme consultative committee will provide for stakeholder engagement and continuity. This committee will be formed in the near future and will include representation from a broad range of relevant stakeholders. Private and public forestry sector representatives will be prominent among these and are recognised as vital for buy-in and uptake of the new programme.
The new programme is different from what we have seen previously. It has 12 diverse forest types, providing ample choice for farmers and other landowners to plant according to their needs. It is designed especially to encourage more farmers to get involved in farm forestry. That is why forestry premiums have been increased by between 46% and 66% and farmers will receive 20 years of premium payments, compared with 15 years of premium payments for non-farmers. Premium payments now range from between €746 and €1,142 per year per hectare, tax free. There is provision for the involvement of public bodies too. We have a dedicated forest creation on public land scheme and the NeighbourWood scheme to help communities create local forests for the enjoyment of the public.
A targeted communications campaign to promote the programme is already under way. There was a strong emphasis on forestry at the Department's stand at the National Ploughing Championships and advertisements have been placed in newspapers. Radio and social media promotion will commence next week and Teagasc will shortly commence a series of information sessions throughout the country for all interested parties. We have also opened a call for proposals for forestry promotion projects, with a special focus on promoting schemes under the new forestry programme. We are also conducting regional training sessions for registered foresters to explain the new requirements.
This forestry programme has the potential to deliver lasting benefits for climate change, biodiversity, wood production, economic development and quality of life, and we fully recognise it will need a collaborative effort throughout society to reach our aims. It is our intention to ensure full and active engagement with relevant stakeholders. I ask those who are interested in the future of forestry in Ireland to lend their support to the new programme.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for all the positives, with which I have no difficulty, but the Commencement matter was intended to ask her to establish a national forestry authority. There was no mention of such an authority in the response, which is what the Commencement matter focused on. It was a simple question of a few lines. Is the Minister of State supportive of the principle of looking at establishing a national forestry authority? Again, I acknowledge the positivity of all the key points she made and I acknowledge Teagasc, which yesterday published its Forestry Programme 2023-2027 information meetings, which will start on 10 October and run to 19 October, throughout the country. Clearly, the agency is active on the ground and a number of these workshops will be held throughout our community. I intend to go to some of them and I hope other Senators will too, because they are very important.
This is a positive start and I want to start being positive. I do not want to be negative all the time. The Minister of State should believe me when I say I am committed to this forestry sector. Will the Minister of State outline whether there is even remote support for the establishment of a national forestry authority?
Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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I fully acknowledge the Senator's positivity and commitment to the sector and welcome the fact he plans to attend some of the workshops. We see the promotion of forestry as something that enough people are already involved in. In the case of the forestry promotion project, as I indicated, a lot of private sector individuals are getting involved, which is very good given it is diverse, it spans the country and it allows people to see the benefits of forestry across the board, not least at a societal level. Teagasc is actively promoting forestry and there are a number of aspects to forestry promotion. Currently, the model works well and people can contact their Teagasc adviser to get direct advice on a one-to-one basis, and there is also a wider promotional campaign in the Department that will run forestry promotion projects throughout the country. At this time, therefore, I believe we are covering the promotion of forestry proactively. We have a new programme on which to deliver and I am excited about the future of that.