John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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697. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address the numerous issues raised with him by the forestry industry regarding licences for forestry operations; his views on whether there is a crisis situation in the industry; if so, the way in which he plans to address it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8240/20]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that there are currently delays to issuing forestry licences and acknowledge that this is causing difficulties for some in the sector. My Department is intensively engaging with all relevant stakeholders on these issues.

The current licensing difficulties are as a result of the changes made to internal Appropriate Assessment Procedures (AAP). These were introduced in response to important Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decisions and their subsequent interpretation by the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) and others. These findings meant that in order to grant licences which fully meet environmental requirements, fundamental changes to the licensing system were unavoidable. As you know, my Department is the forestry licence consent authority and, since 2017, all licence applications are subject to a statutory public notification system.

I accept the current changes to procedures are very significant and they have been challenging to implement such is the scope and breadth of them, which has unfortunately meant that there have been delays in issuing licences. It has taken substantial resources and effort to introduce a robust and workable system, which meets the legislative requirements, and I believe we now have that in place. In order to fully implement this system and to issue licences within accepted timescales, my Department is devoting extra resources to deliver these new procedures, as follows:

- New forestry inspectors and additional administrative staff have been assigned to licensing. More forestry inspectors will be recruited in 2020.

- Two new ecologists have joined the Department ecology team, with four more to be appointed shortly.

- We have engaged external ecological expertise to help with the backlog of files. Four local ecologists have also been contracted provide extra support. Further, an ecology contract with five new ecologists is due to be signed very soon.

- Additional administrative staff have been assigned to the Agriculture Appeals Office to assist with the increased workload of the Forestry Appeals Committee.

- Three planning officers have been contracted in to work with the Forestry Appeals Committee.

- A specialist mapping expert has been assigned to forestry issues.

To date in 2020, 719 tree felling licences have issued with a volume of 1.8 million m3. In terms of afforestation licences processed, my Department has issued 248 afforestation licences for 1,859ha and 155 forest road works licences for 56km of forest roads, for the year to 22nd May 2020. Furthermore, from January 2018 to the end of March 2020, there are valid afforestation licences for some 3,300ha that have not progressed to planting. I would encourage landowners with valid afforestation licences to plant their land this year. They will then access the premiums available under the Afforestation Grant and Premium Scheme.

I have an unwavering commitment to supporting the forestry sector and this commitment has been borne out during the current pandemic. Forestry licensing has been deemed an essential service during the Covid-19 outbreak. Officials of my Department have continued to work under restricted circumstances, to ensure that forestry licences and payments have issued daily during the health crisis.

I acknowledge that the current situation is challenging, but it is a temporary disruption which, when resolved, will make for a better, more sustainable and fit-for-purpose forestry licensing system for many years to come.