Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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883. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of staff working in the Forestry Service as of 31 December 2022; and if he will provide a breakdown of the areas these staff work in, such as inspectors, ecologists, archaeologists, engineers, clerical staff and so on, in tabular form. [6519/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The table below shows that there were a total of 170 staff working in the Forestry Divisions of my Department as of 31 December 2022;

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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884. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of workers employed in the Forestry Service for the years ending 2012 to 2021 inclusive, in tabular form. [6520/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The attached table is an overview of the staff directly involved in Forestry in my Department. The figures represent a snapshot of the staffing complement in each of the years in question, as staff numbers vary throughout the year.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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885. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the review of the ash dieback replanting scheme. [6545/23]

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 €8.9 million to owners of ash plantations impacted by ash dieback disease through the ash dieback reconstitution scheme (introduced in 2013) and more recently via the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (Ash Dieback) introduced in July 2020.

I have secured a package of €1.3 billion for forestry which will support the biggest and best-funded Forestry Programme to date in Ireland and it is intended to continue to offer a Reconstitution Scheme for ash through the next Forestry Programme which will cover the period from 2023-2027.

Forest Owners will qualify for a clearance grant and may select from a number of proposed Forest Types. 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 and it is proposed that, as is currently the case, the grant rates offered will correspond to the equivalent rate offered in the proposed new Afforestation Scheme; see Circular 20 of 2022 Forestry Programme Support Scheme Grants and Payments which may be viewed at gov.ie - Forestry Grants and Premium Schemes 2014 - 2022 Circulars (www.gov.ie).

The Programme, and the Forestry Strategy, which is the framework within which it operates, has recently closed a public consultation from which we are currently collating and reviewing the feedback received, and this in turn will inform the final versions. We are also actively engaging with the European Commission to progress State Aid approval to the new Programme, with the aim of launching as soon as possible.

I have, of course, also 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.