Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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704. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is a new grant scheme available for small-scale forestry (details supplied); if so, when this scheme commences; the timeframe for persons to get access to such a scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10261/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Under the Afforestation scheme funded by the exchequer, an application for grant aid  must be at least 0.1 hectares for broadleaf trees and 1 hectare for conifers. The European Investment Bank and Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) recently announced a new initiative expected to support €112 million of new investment in privately owned forests across Ireland. Since the 1980's over 19,000 unique private forest owners have received grant aid from the State to establish forests, the average size of which is 9.1 hectares. This announcement will help bring more of these forests under a single management plan and in doing so help address the economy of scale issue that is associated with the fragmented nature of Ireland’s private forest estate.

While the announcement by the EIB provides an option for some private forest owners it is important that those owners who wish to retain and manage their own forests are also supported. In this regard the Department has signed a contract to develop a certification template to assist forest owners in achieving certification for their forests. Two certification groups will also be established as part of this exercise to help reduce the cost for those wishing to certify their woodlands.