Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1317. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps that he is taking to ensure the processing of forestry licences from private companies. [55649/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine had made significant progress to deliver a licensing system which meets the needs of all those who apply for forestry licences.

This is regardless of whether that application comes from a private individual or company which wishes to plant trees, a forest owner who wishes to fell their crop, or Coillte who wishes to supply sawmills with product from their estate.  Each licence has a value, particularly to the rural economy where the timber is harvested, transported and processed. 

Private felling licence output in 2022 is up on last year with over 1 362 year issued year to date and in quarter three,  Private felling significantly exceeded Coillte felling with 472 licences vs 294 licences

In the interest of full transparency, details of all licences issued by category are available on the weekly dashboard. This is published on the Departmental website and is made available to all interested parties as well as being submitted to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine each week.