Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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74. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied that Project Woodland is delivering on its mandate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51630/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to report that substantial work has been undertaken by all Working Groups and the Project Board of Project Woodland, with regular meetings held resulting in a high level of output in both terms of quality and quantity.  The Project Board, published its first Interim Report in July and is due to shortly produce its second interim report for October in the next week.

The Board have advanced some immediate priorities and agreed to advance two Working Group recommendations immediately: an external regulatory review and the conducting of a public consultation process on the new Forest Strategy.

My Department has selected a preferred bidder with legal and environmental expertise to carry out an in-depth review of the forestry licensing system. It will review the existing statutory framework for the licensing of forestry activities in relation to environmental and public participation obligations in order that practical advice can be provided to the Department on how to work more efficiently within the existing legal framework.

A significant aspect of Project Woodland’s work is to develop a new national vision for Irish forestry. Already the collaborative efforts of sector stakeholders, NGOs, environmental representatives and state actors is showing significant progress on this and a public consultation exercise has begun, with a study on Community Engagement on Forestry and Woodlands underway, a tender issued for the Strategic Environmental Analysis/Appropriate Assessment process and quotes sought for external consultants to conduct an omnibus survey of public attitudes to trees, woods and woodland. A tender will issue in the coming weeks for a public survey on the vision for forestry to 2050. Furthermore later this year and into 2022 bi-lateral stakeholder meetings will be held, deliberative dialogue  will be undertaken in the form of a national event, a Youth Forum will be convened and a National Stakeholder event will be scheduled.

In addition, an independent Systems Analyst is conducting an end-to-end process review with a view to licensing process improvement and an interim report on this work will be submitted to the Project Board in the near future.

There has been significant work carried out on all other aspects of Project Woodland too and updates on these be will contained  in the second interim report  of the Project Board which will issue shortly. These include:

- A pilot project for pre-application discussions.

- Payment of an Environmental Planning Grant.

- A new Customer Charter for forestry.

- A Communication Plan that assists my Department in conveying the multi-functional benefits of forestry.

- A review of the organisational structure of forestry within my Department.

- Commission of a Training Needs analysis.

- Definition of the backlog and associated dashboards.

- Actions relating to reduction of the backlog.

In conclusion, I would like to recognise the momentum and progress made under Project Woodland and I acknowledge the hard work and commitment shown by all involved, in particular the representatives from the Forestry Policy Group. 

Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, I am committed to the success of this Project and by continuing to work together I believe we can deliver on its ambitions for the benefit of the forestry sector and society at large.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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75. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions being taken to deal with the long delays in granting felling licences; and if his attention has been drawn to the effects the delays are having farmers, forest owners, forestry contractors, sawmills and wood processors and to the rural economy as a whole. [51489/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I fully recognise the impact the current forestry licencing delays are having on the sector. Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for he sector, I am in regular and intensive consultation with all stakeholders, and it is my immediate priority to resolve the issues which have led to this backlog and to issue licences in the volume needed for this important sector to continue to contribute to our rural economy.

The delays that have arisen were caused by changes to the licencing system as a result of Court decisions which means that a significant number of cases now need ecological input to comply with environmental requirements. To find solutions towards resolving these issues, as well as focusing on woodland creation, Project Woodland was initiated early in 2021. 

We are making progress under  Project Woodland and are about to select a preferred bidder with legal and environmental expertise to carry out an in-depth review of the forestry licensing system. It will review the existing statutory framework for the licencing of forestry activities in relation to environmental and public participation obligations in order that practical advice can be provided to the Department on how to work more efficiently within the existing legal framework. In addition, a business systems analysis currently being undertaken by an independent systems analyst will interact with and run parallel with the regulatory review, so that best possible system improvements are delivered. 

Alongside Project Woodland, we continue to look at our processes. Changes were made to the way in which ecological reports were prepared, freeing up ecologists to spend more time to deal with the ecological assessment of the application.   My officials also examined all tree felling licences referred to ecology.  This resulted in approximately 50% of applications being returned to applicants or their Registered Forester, seeking further information, often a well-developed harvest plan.  We have begun to receive responses to these requests and would urge all applicants and registered foresters to reply to our communication so that these cases may progress.

In June this year, the Department issued 415 forestry licences. This output was interrupted in July and August by the introduction of a new requirement for public participation under SI 293/2021, signed on 25th June by the Minister for Housing Local Government and Heritage and which applies to all similar planning issues. However we have now returned and indeed exceeded expected levels with 585 licences issued in September, 511 of which were felling licences.   Up to 15th  October, my Department has issued 2,057 tree felling licences to  cover a volume of just over six million cubic metres.  Furthermore, Coillte's felling programme is fully licensed and they are working with the Department to ensure availability for this supply to market. We expect that their 2022 programme will be fully complete by year-end.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate my commitment to supporting the forest sector and to building on the recent progress, so that a continual improvement in delivery is achieved.