Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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590. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way in which his Department arrived at the target of 4,500 forestry licences for 2021; if this figure was formulated in conjunction with industry or other stakeholders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36174/21]

Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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591. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason he is of the view that forestry licensing output will increase for the second half of 2021 given that only 1,594 licences were issued up to 18 June 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36176/21]

Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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592. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the forestry licensing targets of his Department by licence type for July, August, September, October, November and December 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36178/21]

Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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593. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the afforestation, roads and felling licensing output to date in 2021; the way this compares with licencing output to the same dates in each of the years 2016 to 2020; the percentage increase or decrease in output compared to those dates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36179/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 590 to 593, inclusive, together.

The Department is intensively engaging with all relevant stakeholders in order to resolve the current licensing delays and we remain committed to a target of 4,500 forestry licences to be issued this year. Updates are published in our weekly Forestry Dashboard.

The target of issuing 4,500 forestry licences this year is an increase of 75% on 2020, albeit that last year was a very low output year. June was the best month so far this year for licensing with 411 licences issuing then.

In terms of afforestation, the Department has issued more licences this year to end June compared to the same period last year, for a land area that is 20% greater in hectares. Forestry road licences have already surpassed the target of 125km as indicated in the Climate Action Plan, 2019 at 149km of forest roads having been licensed this year.

The figures from the last few months show a clear trend towards an increase in licensing output which is expected to continue for the remainder of the year. As always there will be fluctuations between weeks but the end of year target remains. Revised efficiencies in the processing of licences, combined with additional resources, will strongly contribute to achieving this year's target.

In this regard, Project Woodland, which was launched in February this year, has, among other objectives, been set up to review and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the forestry licensing system.

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, including a definition of the backlog, which has been 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.

It is important to note that no individual targets have been set for each type of licence. Based on the proportion of licences issued in 2020, we could surmise that approx. 65% of these will be tree felling licences, 20% will be for afforestation and the balance for forest roads. These figures, of course, must be treated as an estimate, based on experience from previous years, of how the total licence output could likely be distributed across the different licensing categories.

A comparison between numbers of licences issued in the years from 2016 to 2021 is presented in the following tables:

Number of Licences issued to 30^thJune each year:

Percentage change in output relative to 2021:

I want to assure the Deputy that Minister of State Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, and I are receiving regular updates on the steps being taken to produce more licenses each week. I fully expect the target to be achieved by year end.