Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

798. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when it is planned to publish the forestry licensing plan for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4746/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department published the Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 in February last year. The plan informed stakeholders of our targets for the delivery of afforestation, felling and forest road licences, and of our commitment to reducing the backlog. 

By the end of 2022, we issued 4,713 licences which was 90% of our expected output for the year. The backlog in licences overall was reduced from 6,000 in August 2021, to 3,700 in January 2022 to 1,983 at the end of 2022. We are issuing more licences than applications received, and this means that the backlog continues to drop over time, with faster turnaround times for new applicants.

The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 requires EU State Aid approval to implement and my Department is  engaging intensively with the Commission so that approval is granted as soon as possible. Once approval has been given the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 will commence in earnest.

I see great merit in signalling to forest owners, landowners, and the forest sector our intentions as regards licensing which is why I intend to publish a new Forestry Licensing Plan once the new Forestry Programme has been approved at national and EU levels.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

799. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reasons that in 2022 Coillte secured 110% of the target number of felling licences that was specified in the Forestry Licensing Plan 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4747/23]

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

800. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the private felling category of the Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 only achieved 88% of its target number of felling licences issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4748/23]

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

801. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the afforestation licence category of the Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 only achieved 68% of its target number of licences issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4749/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 799, 800 and 801 together.

In 2022, the Department approved 4,713 forestry licences which was 90% of our expected output for the year. This licensing output was made up of 1,607 Private felling licences, 1,686 Coillte felling licences, additionally, 702 afforestation and 718 roads licences. This is up on 2021, when we approved 4,018 forestry licences, including 1,294 Private felling licences, 1,529 Coillte felling licences 502 afforestation and 671 roads licences.

Furthermore, 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. The backlog in licences overall was reduced from 6,000 in August 2021, to 3,700 in January 2022 to 1,983 at the end of 2022. I would expect this progress to continue in 2023.

We are committed to delivering 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 and the Department strives to maintain a healthy balance between Coillte and private applications. Last year, Coillte received 51% of felling licences and the other 49% going to the private sector.  Coillte currently supply around 75% of sawlog to sawmills and will, for the foreseeable future, remain an important part of our forestry mix.

With reference to afforestation licenses, 702 licences issued or 68% of the target, however output was significantly up on 2021.  Furthermore, there are now 1,007 approved afforestation contracts with over 7,371 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 increased premiums rates and extended period of 20 year payments to farmers will re-engage landowners, farmers in particular, and realise the land-use change needed.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

802. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department is not accepting any forest grant applications as of 1 January 2023, if it is also not issuing any grant approvals from the same date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4750/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy is aware, the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 replaces the previous Forestry Programme of 2014-2020 (extended to 2022) which expired at the end of 2022.  The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 was created in alignment with Ireland’s new draft Forest Strategy and as such, is designed to provide lasting benefits for many key areas including as climate change, biodiversity, wood production, employment alongside enhancing societal benefits. 

Currently, the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 is subject to an ongoing Strategic Environmental Assessment/Appropriate Assessment (SEA/AA) process. Within this process, the draft Forest Strategy Implementation plan, containing the Forestry Programme was published on the 18 October 2022 for a six-week period of public consultation. My Department is currently collating and integrating feedback from more than 150 submissions on the Forest Strategy Implementation Plan. The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 also requires State Aid to implement and the SEA/AA process is a critical step in the process of securing State Aid approval. 

The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 is also being assessed at this time by the European Commission under the State Aid Guidelines in the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas. These State Aid Guidelines expired on 31 December 2022 and were replaced with a revised version as of 1st of January 2023. The revision of these guidelines meant that a formal application for State Aid could not have been submitted to the European Commission until these revised guidelines were in place, i.e. before January 2023.  Cognisant of the importance of implementing the new Forestry Programme as early as possible in 2023, and of the constraint that we could not submit a formal application for State Aid in 2022, my Department secured the agreement of the European Commission to facilitate a pre-notification in November 2022.  

As the prior Forestry Programme has expired, grant aided applications can not be accepted or issued under this framework. The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 is currently undergoing State Aid assessment, as well as an ongoing SEA/AA process. Therefore to accept any applications for Grant Aid at this time would be in breach of State Aid Rules. A key principle of State Aid approval is that such aid must have an "incentive effect" for the applicant.

An incentive effect is present when the aid changes the behaviour of an undertaking, such as additional activity contributing to the development of the sector, where it would not have taken place without such aid or where in its absence the activity would have transpired in a restricted or different manner.  My Department  as the Granting Authority in this instance, must ensure that any State Aid provided does not subsidise the costs of an activity or undertaking that would have incurred in any instance and must not compensate for the normal business risk of an economic activity. State Aid shall only be deemed allowable once an application has been made before the activity or undertaking has commenced, with clear knowledge of the Stated aided Programme.

However, I am acutely aware of the urgency with which planting and roading activity must take place, given both our ambitious targets and the need to ensure an active pipeline of work for the sector. In this light, my Department has worked intensively with the European Commission to pursue transitional arrangements for the use of valid Forestry Scheme approvals from January 2023.

My Department has put in place an Interim Afforestation Scheme and an Interim Forest Road Scheme to provide an option of immediate planting and/or roading from January 2023 for those with existing valid approvals. A circular on these arrangements issued to the sector on 22 December 2022.  To date we have granted 102 afforestation applications representing 672 hectares and 23 road applications under the De Minimis Schemes.

In terms of afforestation and road applications which were applied for before31st December, 2022 we are continuing to process these so that they may be transitioned into the new Programme when it opens  and approval  may be granted at that stage.

I assure you that the launch of the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 is a matter of the utmost priority. My Department is actively engaging with the Commission, and our officials are working extensively to secure full State Aid Approval as soon as possible.