Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

734. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount of monies that were unspent for 2022 and returned to the central Exchequer concerning forestry programmes. [8610/23]

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

The expenditure under the Forestry Budget for 2022 is shown in the table below:

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.