Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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836. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of agroforestry plots planted per year since 2012, by county; his proposals to increase same; the targets associated with same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15768/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Forestry Programme 2014-2020 (extended to end of 2022) introduced Agroforestry as a Grant and Premium Category under the Afforestation Scheme. Agroforestry had not previously featured in Ireland’s forestry support schemes and the measure is mainly targeted at silvopastoral Agroforestry systems which combine forestry and pasture, including grazing and the growing of fodder. The Programme contained a cumulative target of the establishment of 195ha of Agroforestry between the years 2015 and 2020. To the end of 2021, 42 ha of new agroforestry systems were established, as per yearly breakdown given in the table below.

It should also be noted that since Agroforestry was introduced, my Department has received 90 applications for a total area of 334ha, of which 18 applications, comprising 42ha, were approved and subsequently planted.

A number of applications were withdrawn by the applicants before the approval process was finished and approximately a third of the applications was approved, but have not progressed to planting, yet. 22 agroforestry applications are currently being processed, comprising an area of 122ha.

The Programme offers substantial grants and premiums for farmers considering agroforestry. These rates were trebled under the mid-term review of the current Programme in order to further incentivise this type of planting.

Due to restrictions in the number of premiums that can be paid for agroforestry in accordance with the State Aid Guidelines for the agricultural and forestry sectors for the 2014 to 2020 programming period, not more than five premiums could be offered under this Scheme. The reduced number of premiums available under the Scheme is seen as the main barrier for increased take-up.

The new Forestry Strategy for Ireland that is being developed under Project Woodland will provide a coherent policy framework within which a new Forestry Programme along with other supporting measures can be implemented. It is envisaged that increasing the options that landowners have for managing their forests sustainably will be a central consideration in the new strategy.

Agroforestry is a land use option that is positive for animal welfare, improves biodiversity, can off-set emissions from other farming practices, and can prevent nutrient runoff when planted in strategic locations. In addition, it is possible to grow quality timber with little impact on existing agricultural production.

Increasing the options and incentives for establishing agroforestry systems on farms will be an important consideration in the design of the next Forestry Programme.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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837. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the hectares of afforestation applications submitted to his Department in each of the years 2014 to 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15785/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department makes available various forestry statistics on its website, particularly the Forestry Divisional Monthly Reports, which may be found here gov.ie - gov.ie - Forestry Division Monthly Reports (www.gov.ie)

The table below shows the applications received in hectares from 2014 to 2021.

There are a variety of reasons why there has been a decline in the number of afforestation applications in recent year. Interest in afforestation has been impacted by the complexity of the legal and administrative system, judicial decisions, the efficiency of the forestry licensing system, the appetite among landowners to convert land to afforestation usage and, in some areas, complex societal attitudes and responses to afforestation. Both myself and Minister Hackett are very conscious of the need to increase afforestation rates given the target of 8,000 hectares set out in the Climate Action Plan .

We have focussed on addressing the licensing issue and on looking to the future of trees and forests in Ireland under the framework of Project Woodland.

The licensing situation is improving as a result of increased investment in resources and a continual improvement in processes. We issued 4,050 licences in 2021 and intend to increase this to 5,250 in 2022. We aim to more than double the number of afforestation licences to 1,040 and this should have the effect of encouraging confidence in the system.

Of course last year 502 afforestation licences issued for 4,246 hectares, but only 2016 hectares were planted. This low conversion rate is a challenge. There are currently 5,200 ha in the system, which have a valid approval, but have not gone ahead to planting. We have written to applicants with unused licences to remind them that their licence is still valid and to encourage them to consider using them before their approval lapses.

Communication and positive messaging about the benefits of afforestation is crucial. On most farms, planting can comfortably co-exist with livestock enterprises and can significantly increase the net income from the holding. We must work together to communicate this positive message consistently.

There is also an opportunity to contribute to the shared national vision for forestry by mean of the online public consultation which was launched on 16th March, 2022.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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838. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason that the number of afforestation licences only exceeded 20 on two occasions in his Department’s weekly dashboard in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15859/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is likely to be aware, delays in issuing forestry licences arose because of certain court judgements and their interpretation which resulted in the majority of cases becoming subject to Appropriate Assessment and therefore requiring ecological input.

This was particularly impactful on afforestation licences as afforestation is a land-use change and those files are more complex in nature. Each application for an afforestation licence must be assessed on its own merits having regard to the specificities of the proposed location, and as a result it has been difficult to accelerate the consideration of individual licences as we would have liked.

We issued 4,050 forestry licences in total 2021, which was an increase of 56% on the number issued in 2020. These approvals included 2,877 felling licences. Critically, the availability of this volume of timber, at nearly 8.5 million cubic metres, stabilised supply to the processing sector in 2021. This is the highest volume ever issued in a single year.

In addition, 264 kilometres of forest roads were licensed more than double the target in the Climate Action Plan 2021. This is also the highest ever volume of forest roads issued in a single year. The number afforestation licences remained static, with 502 afforestation licences issued, which represents 4,245ha of forestry.

We intend to build on this momentum in 2022, and to issue 5,250 licences, which is a year-on-year increase of 30%. In particular we are going to prioritise afforestation licences and increase the number issued to 1,040, which is more than double our output in 2021. This will be brought about by system improvements and increased resources focussed on ecology.

Eleven new ecologists recruited through competitive tenders are currently being trained in and will be working exclusively on afforestation files. It will take some weeks before the effect of the new ecologists will be seen on the dashboard as many of the files when processed will require a 2nd stage 30 day consultation period and only after that can an Appropriate Assessment Determination be finalised and an approval letter issue.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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839. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions taken by his Department in each of the years 2016 to 2021 to address the decline in afforestation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15860/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There are a variety of reasons why there has been a gradual decline in afforestation rates even before this current Forestry Programme has started in 2015 and my Department is very conscious of the afforestation targets set out in the Climate Action Plan.

During the last number of years, my Department has been addressing several barriers which contributed to decreasing afforestation rates. The Forestry Programme 2014-42020 (extended to end 2022) offers a wide range of generous grants and 15 annual premiums that makes forestry an excellent land use option which can complement existing farming enterprises and throughout the years of the Programme efforts have been made to encourage landowners to plant.

A mid-term review of the Forestry Programme was completed in 2018. The review included measures aimed at increasing afforestation rates including an increase in grant and premium rates and the commitment to explore the potential of a forestry fund for establishing native woodlands. This commitment resulted in the Woodland Environmental Fund which facilitates the planting of more native woodlands within Ireland by providing an access point for businesses to part fund the establishment of these forests.

In addition to supporting the planting of forests on private lands, the Creation of Woodland on Public Lands Scheme was launched in August 2020 to fund the creation of new native woodlands on publicly owned lands. In accordance with the Programme for Government objectives,

The Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 was enacted on 5th October 2020. This legislation was introduced to give the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) greater flexibility to manage its workload, and to address the backlog of forestry licences held up in the appeals process. This has lead to an impressive increase in efficiency by the FAC with the number of decisions currently outstanding at 27, as compared to the approximately 1,000 cases on hand when the legislation was being introduced.

We are also actively addressing the backlog of forestry licence and looking to the future of trees and forests in Ireland under the framework of Project Woodland, which commenced in March 2021.

The licensing situation is improving as a result of increased investment in resources and a continual improvement in processes. We issued 4,050 licences in 2021 and intend to increase this to 5,250 in 2022. We aim to more than double the number of afforestation licences to 1,040 and this should have the effect of encouraging confidence in the system. Of course last year 502 afforestation licences issued for 4,246 hectares, but only 2016 hectares were planted. This low conversion rate is a challenge. There are currently 5,200 ha in the system, which have a valid approval, but have not gone ahead to planting. We have written to applicants with unused licences to remind them that their licence is still valid and to encourage them to consider using them before their approval lapses.

Communication and positive messaging about the benefits of afforestation is crucial. On most farms, planting can comfortably co-exist with livestock enterprises and can significantly increase the net income from the holding. We must work together to communicate this positive message consistently.

There is also an opportunity to contribute to the shared national vision for forestry by mean of the online public consultation which was launched on 16th March, 2022.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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840. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason that the Y axis of the number of licences issued for afforestation, roads, private felling and Coillte felling was reduced from 140 to 120 on the weekly dashboard; if he will reinstate it to 140; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15861/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department publishes the weekly dashboard at www.gov.ie/en/collection/15b56-forest-statistics-and-mapping/#forestry-weekly-dashboard. The aim of the dashboard is to give full transparency on the number of forestry licences, across afforestation, roads and felling (broken down between Coillte and private felling), we issue every week.

It also shows a useful comparison with the numbers issued in the previous year by month, and the hectares, and kilometres that represents. Furthermore it contains statistics on licences issued year-to-date for forestry support schemes, such the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (Ash Dieback).

In the interests of transparency, we include a side by side comparison for the current month and the previous one, with weekly output shown as a bar chart, colour-coded for the different licence types. These bar charts are automatically generated and will default to an appropriate value on the Y axis, unless altered manually The Y axis generated in January, in line with output was 140, and to compare like with like this was the value maintained for February, when both were represented side by side. Likewise February and March have a Y axis of 120 to reflect output in February. Our objective at all times is give easily understandable and comparable data and that is the reason for this change.

Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, my priority this year is to deliver on the ambition outlined in the Licensing Plan and to issue 5,250 licences and the dashboard affords full transparency in monitoring our progress towards this target.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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841. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he expects to have concluded discussions with his counterparts in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications regarding planning permission for converting from dead and dying ash to conifers under the RUS scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15862/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Since the first finding of ash dieback disease in Ireland, my Department has provided support totalling over €7 million to owners of ash plantations impacted by ash dieback disease through the ash dieback reconstitution scheme (introduced in 2013) and more recently the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS – Ash dieback) introduced in July 2020.

Applications for that RUS are received regularly, and decisions are issued as the assessment of the applications are complete. To date, my Department has received 608 applications covering 2,459ha and has issued 186 decisions for 600ha.

The Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 was published earlier this year and deals with projected licensing output and approvals for support schemes and may be found here gov.ie - Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 (www.gov.ie). A key target of the plan is to refocus on the delivery on approvals from the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS) (Ash Dieback). Many RUS applications are screened in for Appropriate Assessment and are referred to ecology. Of these, any that propose replacing the ash crop with conifer species currently require planning permission.

My Department is continuing to engage with the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH), with the objective of removing the planning permission requirement for these cases.