Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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362. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of approvals per licence and scheme type the Forestry Service will deliver during 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51872/21]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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363. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated number of applications per licence and scheme type the Forestry Service anticipates receiving during 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51874/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 362 and 363 together.

All forestry licences and schemes are voluntary therefore, it is not possible to exactly predict the level of applications that are likely to be received each year. The applications received for the last three full years and to end-September, 2021 are indicated in the table below, for each of the three forestry licence types.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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364. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the details of the anticipated recruitment of foresters or ecologists for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51889/21]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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365. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated total expenditure anticipated to run the Forestry Service for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51890/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 364 and 365 together.

My Department has invested heavily in staff resources over the course of the last two years. There are currently 151 staff comprising a combination of forestry inspectors, ecologists, archaeologists, and administrative personnel.

Within Forestry Inspectorate Division permanent and temporary personnel numbers have moved from 40 (38 Inspectors, two ecologists) in early 2020 to 61 today (52 Inspectors and nine Ecologists). In addition, the number of Contract full time equivalent (FTE) ecologists has steadily grown from none two years ago to 18 today. In total there are now 27 full-time equivalent ecologists working on licensing files, nine within the Inspectorate division and the rest on external contracts.

In the last few days the Department completed a competition for the provision of up to three contract engineers to assist with Forest road licence applications. We are keeping resource requirements under continuous review and will continue to recruit as necessary.

The Department has forestry personnel deployed to buildings all over the country, often shared with other Department personnel or indeed personnel from other Departments.

In terms of budget allocation for Forestry-related schemes for 2022, I am pleased to report that this year’s Budget delivered strong support for Forestry with the allocation of over €100m for 2022. This excludes staffing and associated costs. I will revert to the Deputy with that information.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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366. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his Departments anticipated actual afforestation rate for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51891/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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At present, there are approved licences issued, for sites ready and available to plant covering 5,700 hectares.  I would encourage anyone with a valid afforestation licence to contact their forester and arrange planting. 

 Once planted, they may apply for the first of 15 annual premiums.

It is clear that significant increases in afforestation will be required over the next  decade. I am aware that delays in issuing licences may be a contributory factor in terms of interest in planting.  We are addressing the backlog through the Project Woodland initiative and September was the highest month for licence issue since April 2019. 

Afforestation licences for almost 3,400 hectares have issued this year and we now have a dedicated team of 10 ecologists working on afforestation files ahead of the planting season. 

It is important that the Department receives good quality applications from applicants and that they respond to any requests for further information.  We are in regular contact with registered foresters and applicants on this. 

Regarding projections for 2022, considering the voluntary nature of the Scheme, it is not possible to determine the area that will be planted. We are examining opportunities to further incentivise afforestation measures in the context of the next forestry programme and the next CAP and my Department will be engaging with all relevant stakeholders over the next 12 months. We will be encouraging farmers, state bodies, communities and businesses to plant trees for both timber and to mitigate against the impacts of climate change.