Written answers

Thursday, 24 June 2021

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Sector

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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494. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications in hand for forestry felling; the number of appeals pending in each county; the national information on the current average turnaround time for applications; and the measures that are in place to address this backlog. [34159/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, I am fully committed to improving license output and am more than aware of the importance of felling licences to forest owners and to the sector as a whole.  

In this regard, Project Woodland, which was launched in February this year, has been set up with the objective of reviewing and improving  the efficiency and effectiveness of the forestry licensing system, as well as the creation of a shared national vision for forestry and the development of a new Forest Strategy.

Two working groups in particular are looking at the licensing situation. Working Group 1 is tasked with looking at the backlog.  This Group has examined in detail the cases on hand and is producing specific recommendations for improving output, which will be brought to the Project Board for consideration. Working Group 4 is concentrating on licensing process improvement. A business analyst has commenced work on an end-to-end process review.  In addition, proposals for a pre-application process and a planning grant  are under development  and will be submitted to the Project Board shortly. The Group is also actively considering how best to conduct a regulatory review of the licensing system.

While these initiatives are being worked on, we continue to issue licences and engage in a process of continuous improvement. To 18thJune, a total of 1,594 licences have issued, which is 27% ahead of the same period last year, accepting that last year was low in terms of licencing output.  In terms of timber volumes, the Department has issued licences for 3.14 million cubic metres. Overall, 971 tree felling licences have issued to date, of which 47% are private felling licences.  I expect to maintain this momentum for the rest of the year and to reach the target of issuing 4,500 licences, which is a 75% increase on last year’s licencing output.

The number of tree felling licences on hand on 18thJune, was 4,521, which includes 1,724 outstanding from the batch application of 1,864 licences received from Coillte in mid-March. The average length of time to decision for felling licences for those decided in 2021 is 12 months. It is ten months for afforestation and nine months for roads. 

The number of outstanding forestry licences appeals with the operationally independent Forestry Appeals Committee is set out in the table below, broken down by licence type and county. Of these, 65 have already concluded the hearing appeal and a decision is awaited.

County Afforestation Felling Roads Total
Cavan 0 4 0 4
Clare 4 3 0 7
Cork 1 7 1 9
Donegal 2 2 1 5
Galway 7 10 2 19
Kerry 3 6 2 11
Kilkenny 0 2 2 4
Laois 0 8 0 8
Leitrim 30 5 1 36
Limerick 0 6 0 6
Louth 1 0 0 1
Mayo 6 1 0 7
Meath 1 0 0 1
Monaghan 0 0 1 1
Offaly 2 2 0 4
Roscommon 2 5 1 8
Sligo 4 4 1 9
Tipperary 4 6 0 10
Westmeath 1 1 0 2
Wexford 1 1 0 2
Wicklow 1 3 1 5
Total 70 76 13 159

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