Written answers

Tuesday, 27 July 2021

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Sector

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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3379. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions he plans to take to address the long waiting lists for afforestation, road and felling licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39544/21]

Photo of Brendan GriffinBrendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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3407. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress being achieved in relation to clearing the backlog of felling licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40381/21]

Photo of Jennifer WhitmoreJennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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3422. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the efforts he is taking to address the backlog of applications for tree felling licences across the country and the low update in forestry grants by farmers as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40695/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 3379, 3407 and 3422 together.

The delay in issuing forestry licences is a pressing one which is receiving my full priority. Addressing the number on hand is foremost and the number of licences issued recently shows that we are making some progress in this regard. Improvements have been made to the system for the preparation of Appropriate Assessment Screening Determinations, Appropriate Assessment Reports and Appropriate Assessment Determinations. Currently, these improvements are only applied to private tree felling licence applications and our ecologists are working mostly on these felling applications in advance of the system being developed further to assist with forest road works and afforestation licence applications. This was notified to Registered Foresters in Circular 8 of 2021.

Using the system improvements and additional staff resources, June was the highest month for the issuing of private felling licences in over five years and included 226 private felling licences or an average rate of over 50 private felling licences a week. In total, the Department was issuing an average of 95 licences in the seven weeks to end of June, which was a 50% increase on previous weeks this year.

This rate will not continue into mid-August, as the Department has introduced a second public consultation stage once an application has been screened in and assessed by an ecologist. This new requirement was notified to Registered Foresters in Circular 10 of 2021. However, I expect the rate to pick up again from mid-August onwards.

Initiatives under Project Woodland will bring further improvements in licensing efficiency and output. There are recommendations with the Project Board, which oversees the Working Groups, for such initiatives, including proposals for a pre-application process and an environmental grant. A business system analyst is conducting a review of the licensing process. We have also announced that an independent expert is being commissioned to carry out a review of the forestry licensing process.

There are many reasons why landowners decide not to plant forestry, including competition for other land uses and change of ownership. There is no doubt however, that delays in licensing is a contributory factor. From engagements with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, we are addressing these delays through Project Woodland, which will bring improvements in licence processing efficiency and output. The Project Board overseeing Project Woodland has issued their first interim report on the main recommendations received form the Working Groups to date and some recommended next steps.

We are committed to issuing 4,500 forestry licences this year, which is a 75% increase on last year’s output. The Department has now issued 1,900 forestry licences this year (to 23rd July), which is 25% up on the same time last year. We are making progress and I am hopeful that further gains in efficiency will be possible due to these proposals, which will see a knock-on in increased afforestation rates.

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