Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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1777. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the sustainability of the private forestry sector given the shortage of licences available to the sector since 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63772/22]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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1790. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if licensing output by his Department for 2022 will negatively affect employment in the private sector as licence targets were not reached, and also impact positively on Coillte if their licence target has been exceeded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63785/22]

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1882. 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. [2261/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1777, 1790 and 1882 together.

Over the last three years, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has invested significantly on staff resources. These included investment in additional forestry Inspectors, ecologists, engineers and administrative staff. The Department has also invested in improving IT systems and procedures.

Due to continued high output in forestry licensing in 2022, we have seen considerable reductions in the backlog of forestry licences and another significant year-on-year increase in the number of licences issued.

In 2022 we issued 1,200 more licences than applications received. In total my Department issued 4,713 licences which was 90% of our targeted output. Most of these licences were for the private sector.

I am fully aware of the low levels of afforestation in recent years, 2022 saw a significant increase in the issuing of afforestation licences with my Department issuing 702 afforestation licences for an area of 4,972 hectares. This means that there are now 1,023 approved afforestation contracts with 7,591 ha ready for planting.

A thriving and resilient private forestry sector will continue to be central to the delivery of the Government’s forestry goal and I believe that the best solution to assisting the sector now is delivery of a well-resourced and ambitious forestry programme including an 8,000 hectare per annum planting programme.

I am pleased to have secured the best funded Forestry Programme in the history of the state, with €1.3 billion committed to its implementation. This is a huge vote of confidence in forestry as a public good and in farmers in particular. The expansion of the forest estate will have a significant and lasting impact on employment, not just in planting but in management, harvesting and wood processing down the line.

The premiums on the new forest types have increased from between 46% to 66% and we have introduced five extra years of premiums for farmers, giving them an income for 20 years.

The volume of wood licensed to be felled at the end of 2022 is over 9.5 million cubic metres, which significantly exceeds the COFORD forecast of 4.5 million cubic metres. This is the second year in a row that the volume licensed is more than double the annual forecast volume to be harvested. It is fair to deduce from that, and based on information from the sector, the availability of felling licences is not a limiting factor affecting employment in the sector. Both Coillte and the private sector are receiving sufficient felling licences, with 1,686 and 1,607 licences respectively in 2022, to ensure employment is not affected in the sector.

The most recent COFORD report on economic activity report concluded that employment levels in the sector is likely to grow over the coming decade, particularly in skilled areas such as mechanised forest harvesting as the harvest grows each year from 4.5 million cubic metres in 2022 to 7.1 million cubic metres in 2035.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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1778. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of hectares of afforestation applied for in each year since 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63773/22]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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1781. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of hectares of afforestation licensed by his Department; the total number of hectares of Coillte felling licences that have been licensed by his Department in each of the years since 2015, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63776/22]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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1797. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the weekly average number of afforestation licences issued for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63795/22]

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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1799. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the delivery of forestry licence targets in 2022 for both Coillte and the private forestry sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63810/22]

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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1804. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of afforestation licences that have been issued during the term of the Government; the number of afforestation licences currently in the backlog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63822/22]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1814. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of Coillte felling licences issued during the term of the Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63970/22]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1815. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the weekly average number of Coillte felling licences issued in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63971/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1778, 1781, 1797, 1799, 1804, 1814 and 1815 together.

I am pleased to advise that the output in forestry licensing in 2022 means that we have seen considerable reductions in the backlog of forestry licences, reductions in the time taken to process newer files, and a year-on-year increase in the number of licences issued.

With reference to afforestation licences, my Department was just short of the projected amount of 1,040 afforestation licences issued. The weekly average of afforestation licences issued in 2022 was 13.3. licences. I acknowledge that this was 68% of the end of year target, but still is significantly up on 2021.As of 6th January 2023, there are 277 afforestation files designated as in backlog and we are continue to process these as a matter of priority.

During the term of the Government, to 13th January 2023, we have issued 1,452 afforestation licences. There are now 1,000 approved afforestation contracts with over 7,000 ha ready for planting. These applicants have all been written to explain they now have the opportunity to plant under The Interim Afforestation Scheme ( via De Minimis) or to transition into the new Forestry Programme 2023- 2027 when it launches.

I am acutely aware of the afforestation target of 8,000 hectares per year set out in the Climate Action Plan and the fact that afforestation rates have been declining in recent years. We hope that the new Forestry Programme will re-engage landowners, farmers in particular, and realise the land-use change needed.

It is my aim 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 who 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.

In 2022, we committed to increasing our output to 3,360 felling licences, broken down between 1,530 Coillte felling licences and 1,830 private felling licences and we achieved 98% of that commitment.

The number of Coillte felling licences issued during the term of this government to date (27th June 2020 to 13th January 2023) is 3,749 licences.

Information on the number of afforestation applications made each year since 2015 can be found in section 3 Afforestation of my Department's annual report "Forest Statistics Ireland 2022" here: gov.ie/en/collection/15b56-forest-statistics-and-mapping.

<a href="">Forest Statistics</a>

Information on the total number of hectares of afforestation licensed by my Department and the total number of hectares of Coillte felling licences that have been licensed by my Department in each of the years since 2015 is set out below:

In the interest of full transparency, details of all licences issued by category are available on my Department's 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.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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1779. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the percentage of the forestry budget for 2022 that will be spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63774/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The expenditure under the Forestry Budget for 2022 is shown in the table following.

The shortfall in spending is primarily due to the anticipated level of planting not being reached, with 2,273 hectares planted against a target of 8,000 hectares. This is often a feature of the final year of a Programme, as those with valid licences adopt a 'wait and see' attitude to see whether they would benefit from transitioning to the new  Forestry Programme 2023 2027. This is borne out by the fact that at the end of 2022 there were over 1,000 approved afforestation licences with a total of 7,500 hectares.

It is my expectation that the proposed increases announced for the new Programme will encourage increased uptake. In advance of the Programme being announced I have facilitated those with valid afforestation licences by allowing them to  immediately opt in to an Interim Afforestation Scheme ( via De Minimis), which offers the same increases in grant aid and premiums.