Written answers
Thursday, 12 July 2018
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Afforestation Programme
Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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563. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount allocated and expended, respectively on forestry schemes in each of the years 2014 to 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form. [31974/18]
Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The current Afforestation Scheme provides a range of grants that cover the full cost of establishment of the plantation and payment of annual premiums to both incentivise planting and to compensate for the loss of agricultural activity on the land that is planted. The Afforestation Scheme is voluntary and demand-led. Financial support for the 2014-2020 Forestry Programme is 100% Exchequer funded under EU State Aid rules.
Forestry Support Schemes include funding for, inter alia, Forest Road Works, Reconstitution, Woodland Improvement Scheme along with COFORD, the Forest Service Inspectorate and Promotion.
The information requested is outlined in the table below:
| Year | Afforestation Schemes Allocation €m | Afforestation Schemes Expenditure €m | Support Schemes Allocation €m | Support Schemes Expenditure €m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 105.07 | 102.51 | 4.70 | 5.58 |
| 2015 | 103.56 | 98.70 | 6.00 | 3.99 |
| 2016 | 102.30 | 97.79 | 9.38 | 4.23 |
| 2017 | 98.50 | 93.63 | 10.55 | 5.88 |
| January to week-ending 6th July 2018 | 91.49 | 72.51 | 11.51 | 2.55 |
The expenditure on Support Schemes in 2014 exceeded the allocation, payments due under other forestry schemes were facilitated by the transfer of unspent amounts.
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