Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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427. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons that applied for the afforestation scheme in County Leitrim in 2016 and then transferred ownership to another party; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8252/18]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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428. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons that applied for the afforestation scheme in County Leitrim in 2015 and then transferred ownership to another party; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8253/18]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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429. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons that applied for the afforestation scheme in County Leitrim in 2014 and then transferred ownership to another party; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8254/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 427 to 429, inclusive, together.

My Department does not have information or statistics on the ownership or transfer of lands by parties prior to an application being made for the first grant and premium under the Afforestation Grant and Premium Schemes.

It does maintain statistics on changes made by Scheme participants after a plantation has been established, where an existing forestry contract undergoes a change through sale, transfer or inheritance of a grant-aided plantation from the original scheme applicant and where a new applicant signs up to continue the term of the scheme. These statistics are published annually by the Department on a national basis.

In 2014, a change of applicant was completed on 366 forestry contracts nationally; in 2015, the figure was 362. The 2016 figure was 543 and the 2017 figure was 396.

The corresponding numbers for County Leitrim only are 12, 9, 42 and 23 for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.