Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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2005. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of felling licence applications issued broken down for Coillte and private (details supplied) from May to December 2019 and for the entirety of 2020 and 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2099/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has invested heavily in additional resources and in process improvements, alongside Project Woodland, to increase licence output.  This has had the desired effect with a marked increase in licences issued last year.  In fact, we reached our target for 2021, issuing 4,050 forestry licences.

Much of that output has been felling licences, which reflects the number of felling licence applications we receive as opposed to forest roads and afforestation licence applications. To the end of last year, we received 3,601 tree felling licence applications, split between 2,299 Coillte and 1,309 private applications (64%/36% respectively).

In 2021, My Department issued 1,345 private felling licences and 1,532 to Coillte. This highlights that overall, there was no great disparity last year between both Coillte and private licences (47%/53% respectively), notwithstanding the greater number of Coillte applications received.  Coillte is responsible of the mature national forest estate and represents 75% of the national supply of logs to sawmills.

From May 2019 to end 2020, there were 1,447 felling licences issued to private applicants and 1,626 felling licences issued to Coillte.  That is 47%/53% respectively, which again indicates that there is not a huge difference in outputs between private and Coillte felling licences.

The number of forestry licences issued each week is indicated in the Forestry Licensing Dashboard, which contains a breakdown of the licences issued for both Coillte and private applicants, and this may be viewed on the Department's website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/collection/15b56-forest-statistics-and-mapping/ 

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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2006. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of forestry licences issued by type and week in each of the years 2016 to 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2142/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware licence output in my Department was affected by Court judgements and their interpretation which led to a much more onerous Appropriate Assessment procedure and  the need for ecological input for the majority of licences.  

This is reflected in the  decreased number of licences issued in 2020.  In order to address the delays which had arisen due to these changed circumstances, my Department  invested heavily in additional resources and in process improvements,  to increase licence output.

This has had the desired effect with a marked increase in the number of  licences issued last year, at 4,050 forestry licences, and this met the target which we set ourselves.  This included 2,877 felling licences at a volume of nearly 8.5 million cubic metres, the highest volume issued in a single year, and forest road approvals for 264 kilometres, more than double the target set in the Climate Action Plan 2019.  

Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the forestry sector, we are aware of the need to increase the number of afforestation licences and this will be a focus in our 2022 licensing plan, which we will be publish shortly.  

Improvements to the  efficiency and effectiveness of the licensing process are also  being dealt with under Project Woodland, and of particular interest its the Legal and Regulatory Review of forestry licencing, a report on which is due in February. We are also rolling out a pilot for Pre-application discussions  in order  to help improve the quality of afforestation applications.  

As regard the  statistics  requested, my Department publishes a range of these on its website, including the number of forestry licences issued by each type.  This data is available monthly at this link gov.ie - Forestry Division Monthly Reports () and is copied in the attached for ease of reference.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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2007. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of forestry licences currently being processed that relate to applications under one hectare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2143/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There are 24 afforestation  applications on hand with my Department  with an area of less than 1 hectare.  It is my objective to increase and encourage interest in small scale planting by removing the licensing requirement for areas not greater than one hectare, which may prove to be a barrier to such planting and be considered onerous and complex.  

Such an exemption would be available as part of a scheme which my Department intends to design and implement once the required legislative change is in place.

As you may be aware I am seeking to amend the Forestry Act 2014 to facilitate such planting, with an exemption available for 

i) an area of not less than 0.1 hectare and not greater than 1 hectare, or

ii) an area of not less than 0.1 hectare that is not greater than 20 metres in width

and this amendment is currently moving through the Houses of the Oireachtas through the vehicle of the Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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2008. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the afforestation target for broadleaf trees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2144/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Forestry Programme 2014-2020 (extended to end 2022) contains a target of supporting 30% broadleaf planting annually. An average of 27% broadleaves has been planted during the programming period to date.

The earlier years of the programme saw lower rates of broadleaf planting averaging 20% in 2015. I am pleased to say this figure has increased each year reaching 41% in 2021. 

This increase has come about as a direct response to incentives put in place by my Department to encourage the planting of broadleaves. This includes increasing the financial supports available from 2018 onwards following the mid-term review of the Forestry Programme. My Department have also launched the Woodland Environmental Fund and the Creation of Woodland on Public Lands Scheme, both of which incentivise the planting of broadleaves and in particular native trees. We will continue to implement these.

The question of future targets for broadleaf planting will be considered as part of the development of the next National Forestry Programme which is currently underway. 

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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2009. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of hectares of afforestation achieved by Coillte in each of the years 2014 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form; the percentage of which was broadleaf; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2145/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Coillte is operationally independent of the Department and the management of their forest estate is a matter for the company. I have, therefore, forwarded this issue to Coillte for their attention and direct reply to the Deputy.