Written answers

Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Sector

Photo of Holly CairnsHolly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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522. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of licences for felling, afforestation and forest roads issued by month between 1 January 2015 and 1 June 2020, inclusive in tabular form. [17098/20]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides extensive statistical data on its website. It must be noted that prior to the commencement of the Forestry Act, 2014 on 24thMay, 2017, consent for afforestation and forest road works was by way of approvalrather than by licence. The following tables provide the number of approvals/licences issued for the years 2015 to 30thJune, 2020.

I am acutely aware that delays in issuing licences has led to 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. 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. My Department's licensing decisions are being confirmed at the Forestry Appeals Committee, which gives confidence in these revised procedures.

My Department has a detailed project plan in place for dealing with the current backlog and new applications, which includes significant investment in extra resources required to deliver the plan. These resources are a combination of additional ecologists, forestry inspectors and administrative staff where required.

The project plan is a targeted, process-driven approach which prioritise files in a manner which will result in an increased number of licences being issued in the short-term and will deliver a return to expected timelines in the longer term. Applicants who have or are prepared to submit a Natura Impact Statement, where appropriate, will be prioritised.

A Project Management Board, with a dedicated Project Manager, will oversee and monitor delivery. There will be a continuous review of the process, in order to effect efficiencies. A communication plan to keep stakeholders fully and regularly informed of progress, with a dedicated central resource to deal with queries, is a key element of the project. While much of the success of the project plan lies with my Department, stakeholders also need to engage with it. This will require a commitment from forestry companies to submit only applications which have a realistic chance of being planted, to ensure all applications are of the required standard and quality, and to submit NISs in accordance with the guidance provided.

I am more than aware 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.

Afforestation 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
January 151 122 160 84 63 41
February 151 124 99 104 78 58
March 183 158 154 109 69 56
April 169 182 170 120 87 69
May 152 135 140 67 57 33
June 126 86 106 47 32 22
July 92 68 51 31 30
August 104 85 54 35 60
September 114 107 55 71 22
October 152 113 64 78 42
November 223 176 101 55 26
December 134 110 89 54 22
Total 1,751 1,466 1,243 855 588 279
Forest Roads 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
January 54 47 48 35 101 19
February 22 27 37 31 59 32
March 29 36 29 28 39 40
April 26 24 37 21 51 38
May 31 39 31 36 48 37
June 22 41 44 37 47 24
July 43 50 38 26 48
August 53 80 43 60 46
September 49 62 35 38 25
October 37 48 41 62 24
November 50 43 64 53 22
December 59 32 33 34 32
Total 475 529 480 461 542 190
Tree Felling 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
January 302 235 245 232 513 81
February 242 274 167 106 1,079 177
March 126 185 181 203 664 180
April 109 114 132 130 568 127
May 145 234 190 212 124 149
June 98 177 59 149 272 85
July 124 206 444 83 356
August 85 275 408 704 124
September 249 497 540 738 156
October 805 324 165 579 73
November 258 2,927 358 386 134
December 199 1,283 217 81 117
Total 2,742 6,731 3,106 3,603 4,180 799

Photo of Holly CairnsHolly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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523. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the significant backlog of forest licensing approvals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17099/20]

Photo of Holly CairnsHolly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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524. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average age of a felling licence for the calendar years 2015 to 2019, inclusive (details supplied); and the number of applications, in absolute and relative terms, that are decided in periods of time greater than four months. [17100/20]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 523 and 524 together.

The commencement of the Forestry Act, 2014 in May, 2017 brought about significant changes in the consent process for forestry operations. Felling licences are now valid for up to 10 years and may cover several felling events, such as thinning then clear felling on the same plot. Landowners considering future operations, have the opportunity of applying for a tree felling licence well in advance of any operations taking place.

I am acutely aware that delays in issuing licences has led to difficulties for some in the sector, although of course not all licence are used immediately. 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. 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. My Department's licensing decisions are being confirmed at the Forestry Appeals Committee, which gives confidence in these revised procedures.

My Department has a detailed project plan in place for dealing with the current backlog and new applications, which includes significant investment in extra resources required to deliver the plan. These resources are a combination of additional ecologists, forestry inspectors and administrative staff where required.

The project plan is a targeted, process-driven approach which prioritise files in a manner which will result in an increased number of licences being issued in the short-term and will deliver a return to expected timelines in the longer term. Applicants who have or are prepared to submit a Natura Impact Statement, where appropriate, will be prioritised.

A Project Management Board, with a dedicated Project Manager, will oversee and monitor delivery. There will be a continuous review of the process, in order to effect efficiencies. A communication plan to keep stakeholders fully and regularly informed of progress, with a dedicated central resource to deal with queries, is a key element of the project. While much of the success of the project plan lies with my Department, stakeholders also need to engage with it. This will require a commitment from forestry companies to submit applications that are of the required standard and quality, and to submit NISs in accordance with the guidance provided.

I am more than aware 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.

The table below shows data for applications for tree felling licences. It should be noted that prior to the commencement of the Forestry Act, 2014 on 24thMay, 2017, all tree felling licences were dealt with manually and age-related data are not available for all the years requested. The data below are for 2018 to 2020.

- 2018 2019 2020
Applications received 6,600 3,175 758
Licences issued 3,603 4,098 823
% issued within four months 77% 71% 60%
% issued over four months 23% 29% 40%
Average days to decision* 109 185 215

* For decisions made in the year indicated.

Photo of Holly CairnsHolly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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525. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide details of tree planting rates and numbers conducted through afforestation by license under section 22 of the Forestry Act 2014 in tabular form. [17101/20]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides annual planting and other statistics on its website. My Department does not keep data on the number of trees planted at sites, rather the hectares planted. The table below shows the hectares planted per county in the last three full years.

- 2017 2018 2019
Carlow 62.37 25.57 21.75
Cavan 316.67 320.63 167.45
Clare 518.38 261.71 352.43
Cork 419.69 297.03 423.40
Donegal 54.13 63.86 44.52
Dublin 10.80 4.21 35.10
Galway 400.32 286.60 278.78
Kerry 377.66 332.44 301.47
Kildare 33.02 79.28 24.88
Kilkenny 89.55 136.13 89.06
Laois 98.57 71.21 49.09
Leitrim 536.22 298.66 289.18
Limerick 99.48 81.01 156.49
Longford 200.70 171.44 62.02
Louth 21.85 10.31 1.27
Mayo 531.78 255.97 239.07
Meath 122.04 105.87 51.33
Monaghan 61.38 86.74 59.28
Offaly 165.63 72.05 76.24
Roscommon 431.11 399.28 315.09
Sligo 189.96 139.34 119.35
Tipperary 161.65 127.67 157.84
Waterford 163.40 42.60 49.45
Westmeath 206.88 174.65 77.03
Wexford 114.36 60.45 58.86
Wicklow 148.15 120.77 49.46
Total 5,535.75 4,025.48 3,549.89

This represents tree planting on private lands, which is funded under the Department's Forestry Programme 2014-2020. The rate of afforestation has been in decline in recent years, due to a number of factors including competition for land amongst land owners regarding the value and management of their forests, negative public perception of forestry and difficulties and delays in issuing licences. The Programme for Government contains commitments to support the forestry sector and woodland creation and to tackle these issues.

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