Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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649. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps he is taking to address the significant backlog in the applications for forest road licences. [59897/21]

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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650. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will report on his engagement with private forestry companies and their representatives regarding the delays in forestry related licences. [59898/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 649 and 650 together.

Both Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, and I take the forestry licensing issue extremely seriously and it is a top priority in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Significant time and resources continue to be devoted to dealing with the backlog and this is beginning to have the desired effect. I am hopeful that we will reach our target of 4,000 licences this year, having now issued 3,718 licences to 3rd December. This is a 50% improvement on last year.

We have engaged extensively with stakeholders on this issue. In respect of engaging specifically with forestry private forestry contractors and their representatives, both Minister Hackett and I have had several meetings with Forest Industries Ireland (FII) this year.

We have met jointly on four occasions and I have had a separate meeting with FII. My officials have also had several meetings with FII to discuss the licensing process, to provide clarity on processes and requirements. In the normal course of events, there is day-to-day contact with private forestry companies in relation to individual applications.

Furthermore four representatives of FII are members of the Forestry Policy Group, which is chaired by Minister Hackett, and by extension are members of the four Working Groups under Project Woodland.

As the Deputy will be aware, Project Woodland was set up earlier this year as a framework to resolve the delays in issuing licences, as well as a vehicle to create a shared vision for woodland creation in Ireland.

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.

Of relevance to licensing is the external regulatory review. The Department has placed a contract for the regulatory review, with report due by end February, 2022. 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.

In terms of forest road applications, to 3rd December, the Department has issued 607 forest road licences for 244 km.

This is the largest amount in terms of length issued in the last five years and is almost double the annual target set in the Climate Action Plan (125km). The Department has invested significantly in examining road applications on hand have written to registered foresters where further information was required. This work, together with improvement in ecological report drafting, is paying dividends in terms of the recent increased output.

I would like to reiterate my commitment and that of Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, in ensuring that we maintain and improve on our licence delivery for the benefit of the sector. We will continue to work with private forestry companies and their representatives and other stakeholders towards reaching a satisfactory resolution to the current challenges.