Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 574: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans for the future with regards to the ongoing management of existing forest on peat lands in addition to current available afforestation options for unenclosed land; the number of hectares of forestry to be planted in the coming year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15637/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The afforestation schemes provide attractive grants and premiums to incentivise the planting of agricultural land by farmers and other landowners, to support the continued development of a viable and sustainable national forest resource.

All applications submitted to my Department for approval to undertake afforestation are examined regarding the suitability of the site from a silvicultural, productivity and environmental perspective. Certain sites are less suited for forestry. Poorer quality site types are predominantly peat and are often characterised by poor fertility, high elevation and constrained by poor access, wind stability issues and high fire risk. These poor site types are also very sensitive from an environmental perspective and have limited timber productivity. In the current economic climate, my Department is not prioritising the use of limited Exchequer funds to support the establishment of new forests on such sites, on silvicultural, site productivity and environmental grounds.

A Working Group will be established shortly by my Department to examine the future management of existing forests on peatlands. The group will also be examining the afforestation options with regard to unenclosed land. The priority must be to ensure that limited financial resources are targeted towards lands that provide the best value for money with a view to expanding the forest estate so that it can be sustainably and economically managed into the future.

As regards the number of hectares of forestry to be planted in the coming year, I am pleased that sufficient funding has been provided to pay for approximately 7,000 hectares of new planting in 2012.