Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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70. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the full extent of any proposed afforestation throughout the country in the course of the next 12 months; if farmers can access appropriate funding to undertake climate change planting; if adequate provision is being made to encourage the plantation of appropriate species to maximise carbon sequestration and minimise the impact on agricultural production for the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51650/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) provides funding under the Afforestation Scheme to incentivise the creation of new forests. Since the mid 1980s over 300,000 hectares of new forests have been created with financial supports from the EU and the state.

Forestry is very well supported under the Forestry Programme 2014-20  which has now been extended to end 2022, with generous 100% establishment grants, in addition to 15-year premiums for current afforestation scheme contracts and a tax-free asset on maturity. 

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. All tree species sequester carbon which is only one of the many ecosystem services that trees provide. Forests planted on agricultural land helps reduce over all emissions from the land use sector.  

The current annual planting target is 8,000 hectares and this has not been achieved. The level of planting to end of September 2021 is 1,755ha and it is clear that significant increases in afforestation will be required over the next  decade. 

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.