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 (Ash Dieback) introduced in July 2020.

The current scheme provides 100% grant aid to landowners to clear their ash crop, replant with an alternate species and manage their forest until successfully established.

This year to date nearly €850,000 has been paid out in site clearance and replanting grants under the RUS Scheme. We received 833 applications in total for 3,161 hectares. Of these 327 for 1,083 hectares have been approved, with one refusal. This means that there remains 505 applications for 2,068 hectares on hand, and I assure the Deputy that we are focussed on dealing with these.

We continue to process to approval those cases which are not affected by the requirement for planning permission. The legislation to remove the requirement for planning permission for Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme projects less than 10 ha in size is a matter for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and concerns projects where broadleaves are replaced with conifers.

That Department has completed the first stage in the Strategic Environment Assessment screening process and notified the prescribed statutory consultees on 22nd September 2022. Those statutory consultees have 4 weeks to respond to the notice. An Appropriate Assessment screening process is also currently being undertaken in parallel by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s Ecological Assessment Unit. I am hopeful that this legislative change will be put in place once these processes are finalised.

Even where planning permission is not required i.e. in cases where broadleaf replaces broadleaf, we need complete applications and we have in recent weeks sent out 168 further information requests to applicants, predominantly for harvest plans and reforestation maps. These are being submitted and we will process those not in need of planning permission as we receive them.

It is intended to continue to offer the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme through the next Forestry Programme which will cover the period from 2023-2027, and as Deputies will be aware the Programme is currently undergoing public consultation as part of the SEA/AA process. I have of course met with landowners whose forests have ash dieback and I am more than aware of their concerns and I will continue to work to address them.

It may be of interest to the Deputy that my Department is currently preparing a report entitled "Origins of Ash Dieback Disease in Ireland, Lessons to be Learned and Research Update" in response to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Marine report on "Issues Impacting the Forestry Sector in Ireland". This will completed shortly and will include a section on the supports given to ash plantation owners.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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133. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the fact that the targets relating to the issuance of forestry licences have been missed by over 62.5% in the first half of 2022; and his proposals to ensure that yearly targets are met. [53093/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to advise that this year we have seen considerable improvements in the issuance of forestry licences.

To date this year, we have issued 3,914 licences which is 92% of our expected output at this point in the year and there are currently 953 approved afforestation licences with just under 7,000 hectares ready for planting.

The backlog has reduced from 6,000 in August 2021, to 3,700 in January of this year and now stands at 1,639. We are issuing more licences than applications received and this means that the backlog continues to drop, with faster turnaround times for new applicants.

When we published our Forestry Licensing Plan for 2022, we set an ambitious target of 5,250 licences, an increase of 30% on 2021.

In terms of our targets in the year-to-date, as of 21st October, we are at 94% of the target for roads, 89% for private felling and over 100% for Coillte felling. I acknowledge that afforestation figures are not quite keeping pace with other categories and are at 69% of year-to-date target .

However, my Department received 339 fresh afforestation applications, while 578 afforestation licences have issued.

Furthermore, the pace of processing of these applications has picked up significantly, since increased ecological specialist resources have come online with 238 licences processed in the 3rd quarter of this year, compared to 131 in the second quarter.

These improved outputs have been achieved through a commitment to continuous improvement as well as through the implementation of measures recommended under Project Woodland.

Work is ongoing with the implementation of the 57 recommendations arising from a business process review carried out under Project Woodland, with 71% of the recommendations either complete or in progress.

This builds on earlier improvements to our processes. These improvements have facilitated the preparation of Appropriate Assessment Reports by the Department, which removes this burden from applicants in most cases.

Associated with this and in order to assist foresters in submitting quality applications, we provided habitat map training and training for ecologists. Furthermore, a pre-application discussion pilot has been completed and we now intend to deliver this at a national level, along with the new Forestry Programme. All of these measures are aimed at improving the quality of applications received and optimising the time of those assessing applications.

We have substantially increased the resources available to process forestry licences, and the positive impact of this can be seen in the increased number of licences issuing.

In addition, a legal and regulatory review of forestry licensing was carried out by Philip Lee Consultants and, following extensive stakeholder engagement, their Report was published in June. The Project Board for Project Woodland has responded to these recommendations and my Department will now finalise a plan for the implementation of the Report, with a certain number of actions already underway

I look forward to maintaining the positive momentum on the issuing of licences, continuing to develop a licencing system that is fit for purpose and that will underpin the shared vision for our forestry future.