Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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497. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if, in a specific case (details supplied), a felling licence was obligatory; if so, if a felling licence was sought; and if it was granted. [3322/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has received a report on the felled trees as outlined by the Deputy. The matter is currently being investigated by a Forestry District Inspector and their report is awaited.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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498. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of forestry felling licence applications that were on hand on 1 October 2020; the number on hand at present; the total amount in terms of volume of timber and hectares licensed for felling since 1 October; the amount of this appealed to the Forestry Appeals Committee; the further steps he plans to take to expedite the processing of licence applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3410/21]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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500. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of forestry road licences that were on hand on 1 October 2020; the number on hand at present; the number of roads licensed since 1 October; the number of these appealed to the Forestry Appeals Committee; the further steps he plans to take to expedite the processing of licence applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3412/21]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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502. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of tree planting licence applications that were on hand on 1 October 2020; the number on hand at present; the number in hectares licensed for planting since 1 October 2020; the amount of this appealed to the Forestry Appeals Committee; the further steps he plans to take to expedite the processing of licence applications [3414/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 498, 500 and 502 together.

I fully recognise the impact the current forestry licensing delays are having on the sector. It is my immediate priority to resolve the issues which have led to this backlog and to issue licences in the volume needed for this important sector to continue to contribute to our rural economy and to help achieve our environmental goals.

You will be aware of the delays caused by changes to the licensing system, which means that a significant number of cases now need ecological input in order to comply with environmental requirements. We are tackling these delays by means of a systematic project plan. We have invested heavily in resources including the recruitment of additional ecologists, forestry inspectorate and administrative staff, with extra resources to be added in 2021. This has already resulted in an increase in the number of licences issued, and the last quarter of 2020 saw the highest number of licences issued last year.

The total number of licences which issued in 2020 was 2,593. Over 4,300ha of new afforestation and 129km of forest roads were licensed. The total volume of felling licences issued for 2020 was just over 5 million cubic metres, of which almost 2m cubic metres representing 40% of annual output issued in the last quarter of the year. This positive trend is continuing this month, with 177 licences issued in the first two weeks of January, which includes timber volume of nearly 450,000 m³. The aim is to sustain and build substantially on that output and ensure the consistent high level of output that the sector needs.

Furthermore, we have also implemented changes to the functioning of the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) and acted quickly to propose and implement the Forestry Act 2020. I have significantly resourced the FAC and four appeals committees are now set up and hearing appeals. The FAC is now hearing an average of 60 licences per month representing an increase of 150 percent. The FAC in consultation with the Agriculture Appeals Office is currently reviewing ways in which greater efficiency can be achieved across the four divisions of the FAC.

On 1st October we had 4,832 applications on hand for processing. We have issued 1,045 new licences since then and currently have 4,453 licences on hand for processing when new applications received since are included. A breakdown of these figures is below.

Felling:There were 3,230 tree felling applications on hand at 1^stOctober. 2020; 2,760 felling licences are on hand at present; 774 have been licensed since 1st October at a volume of 2.424m cubic metres. Since 1st October 29 felling licence decisions have been appealed for 474ha/124,803m³.

Forest Roads:There were 642 forest road applications on hand at 1^stOctober, 2020; 684 road licences are on hand at present; 99 have been licensed since 1st October at 37.48kms. Since 1st October 10 licences were appealed at 5.2km.

Afforestation: There were 960 afforestation licence applications on hand on 1^stOctober, 2020; 1,009 afforestation licences are on hand at present, 172 have been licensed since 1st October at 1,638.75 hectares. Since 1st October 23 licences were appealed totalling 306ha.

On the question of appeals received since 1st October, 62 licences have been appealed since that date.

In conclusion I would like to reiterate my commitment to supporting the forest sector and to building on the recent progress so that a continual improvement in delivery is achieved.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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499. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of felling licence applications that were on hand by the Forestry Appeals Committee on 1 October 2020; the number on hand at present; the total in terms of volume of timber and hectares approved in that period; the number remitted back to his Department; the number refused; if further steps are being contemplated to expedite decisions in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3411/21]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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501. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of forestry road applications that were on hand by the Forestry Appeals Committee on 1 October 2020; the number on hand at present; the number of roads licence applications approved by the committee in that period; the number remitted back to his Department; the number refused; the further steps being taken to expedite decisions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3413/21]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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503. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of tree planting licence applications that were on hand by the Forestry Appeals Committee on 1 October 2020; the number on hand at present; the total volume in hectares approved by the committee in that time; the amount remitted back to his Department; the amount refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3415/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 499, 501 and 503 together.

The Agriculture Appeals Office which was established in 2002 in accordance with the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001, was assigned responsibility for implementing a new statutory appeals service for appeals against Department decisions on forestry licences in 2018. The Agriculture Appeals Office and the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) operate independently of my Department.

Since the Forestry Appeals Committee was established, the number of appeals has increased significantly year on year. In 2020 there were appeals against decisions on 582 licences submitted to the FAC compared to 311 appealed in 2019 and 150 in 2018.

Up to November 2020, there was one Committee hearing forestry appeals. With the introduction of new legislation in October 2020 which provides for sub-divisions of the FAC, an additional three divisions were set up and there are now four Committees hearing appeals each week. The FAC consists of internal and external members. All Agriculture Appeals Officers are members of the FAC. Additional resources were provided to the Agriculture Appeals Office in the 3^rdquarter of 2020 to deal with the backlog of appeals and additional external members were appointed to serve as Deputy Chairpersons and ordinary members.

Prior to the introduction of the new legislation in October 2020, the FAC was hearing an average of 24 licences per month. Since the sub-divisions of the FAC were established, the FAC is now hearing on average 60 appeals per month. The FAC in consultation with the Agriculture Appeals Office is currently reviewing ways in which greater efficiency can be achieved across the four divisions of the FAC.

The following tables provide a breakdown of decisions since 1^stOctober 2020;

Felling

The number of felling licence applications on hand in the Forestry Appeals Committee on 1^stOctober 2020 was 315: 31 appeals were withdrawn and, since 1^stOctober, the Committee reached a decision on 95 licence as follows;

The current number of felling licences appealed to the FAC and awaiting a decision is 189.

Afforestation

The number of afforestation licence applications on hand in the Forestry Appeals Committee on 1^stOctober was 116. Eight of the licence appeals have been withdrawn and, since 1^stOctober, the Committee reached a decision on 18 licence appeals as follows;

The current number of afforestation licences appealed to the FAC and awaiting a decision is 90

Forest Road

The number of forestry road licence applications on hand in the Forestry Appeals Committee on 1^stOctober was 82. Two of these licence appeals have been withdrawn and, since 1^stOctober, the Committee reached a decision on 6 licence appeals as follows;

The current number of forestry road licence appealed to the FAC and awaiting a decision is 74