Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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941. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the licensing targets for private felling licences for 2022 are sufficient to mobilise the forecasted volume available in 2022 as indicated in a forecast by an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7606/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine publishes extensive information on forestry licence and other forestry-related statistics on its website, including the weekly Forestry Dashboard. In the last five years, over 14,000 tree felling licences have issued.

The Department commenced compiling its own timber volume data for issued tree felling licences in 2020, when the 1,700 felling licences issued covered a volume of just over five million cubic metres. In 2021, 2,877 tree felling licences were issued for approx. 8.5 million cubic metres. This exceeds the projections in the COFORD All Ireland Roundwood Production Forecast.

The Forestry Licensing Plan for 2022 envisages that a 35% increase in private tree felling licences issued. Based on the volume represented by the licences issued in 2021, it is expected that the volume licensed in 2022 will exceed the projections of the COFORD All Ireland Roundwood Production Forecast.

I understand the sawmills had a good year in 2021. Coillte had their contract event on 17^thNovember, with sawmills receiving 50% of their supply of Coillte generated logs for 2022. In addition to this, sawmills are taking in a steady supply of logs from private felling sites. Critically, the volume of felling licences issued has stabilised the market in this regard.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) compiles data on actual volumes of timber harvested. An average of 3.85 million cubic metres of timber was harvested in 2017 to 2020. Figures for 2021 are not yet available.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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942. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if expenditure matched, exceeded or did not achieve planned phased monthly expenditure in the Forestry Service for January 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7607/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The budget allocation for Forestry for 2022 is €100,081,000. This provides for new planting, the serving of existing afforestation contracts, and payments in relation to forestry support schemes and forestry related activities.

Some €33,123,573 of the Forestry budget was spent in January, and this is just over the profiled amount of €33,103,100. The remainder of the budget has been apportioned to meet anticipated budgetary needs during the year and will be closely monitored.