Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There are currently no template reports that ecologists are waiting on.

The guidance documentation in relation to applications falling within breeding wader hotspots, provides templates to guide the ecologist. These are available on the Departments website.

Where applications fall within the foraging distance of a SPA the guidance advises that a report is provided by the applicant describing the habitat suitability within the application area for foraging.

Training has been carried out outlining in what circumstances bird habitat related reports are required and the requirements of these reports.

Further training will be provided this year and where it is deemed that further guidance or report templates are required these will be made available.

In addition, my Department has recently established an Afforestation Technical Working Group, comprising Registered Foresters and my officials to assist in identifying any technical issues associated with the delivery of the Afforestation Scheme, to ensure standards are applied correctly, and to identify and prioritise training requirements.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department depends on many map layers, including a curlew map layer, in its forestry 'IFORIS' system to assist in assessing forestry applications and ensuring these are used to safeguard important protected areas such as Curlew nest sites and their surrounds.

This Curlew layer was provided by National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I understand it comprises records from 2015 to 2020, the results of the 2021 national survey; and records for 2022 and 2023 from the NPWS-DAFM co-funded Curlew Conservation Programme.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Since 2020 there has been a significant turnaround in the number of licences issued by my Department, for Cork and for all other counties.

In 2020 following a court ruling in 2019, that increased significantly the ecological input required to process licences, my Department issued 2,592 licences. My Department invested heavily in staff and systems and by 2022 the number of licences issued had risen to 4,713 for that year, over 1,500 more licences than applications received. During this period the information required from the applicant changed and this required my Department to request further information from applicants.

In 2023 with the protracted negotiations with the Commission, this caused a delay to the issuing of some scheme approvals. Felling licences were unaffected and over 1,427 private felling licences issued. There are currently less than 700 private felling licence applications on hand. Despite delays in the introduction of the new Forestry Programme, in 2023 my Department still managed to issue 88 Afforestation licences for an area of 789 hectares, 243 Road licences for 87,469 metres and 203 RUS approvals for an area of 847 hectares.

In addition, to bridge the gap between the old and new programmes, my Department introduced an Interim Afforestation Scheme, an Interim Forest Road Scheme and an interim Ash Dieback Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme via General De Minimis. This ensured that those with valid afforestation licences issued before the end of 2022 could avail of the current planting season under the higher grant and premium rates proposed under the new Programme. Likewise, those with valid road licences and approvals under the Ash Dieback Scheme at the end of 2022 could avail of the higher grants and enhanced payment rates as proposed under the new Programme.A total of 288 approvals totalling 1694 hectares issued under the Afforestation de minimis scheme, while 159 roads covering 70,132 metres and 30 RUS covering 116 hectares also issued under their respective de minimis schemes.

For the new Forestry Programme we are committed to reducing turn around times for all schemes to six months for screen out files and nine months for files that are screened in for appropriate assessment.

We are at the start of the programme and we are committed to reduce Further Information Requests by providing clear guidance and training to Registered Foresters and my Department has recently established an Afforestation Technical Working Group, comprising Registered Foresters and my officials to assist in identifying any technical issues associated with the delivery of the Afforestation Scheme, to ensure standards are applied correctly, and to identify and prioritise training requirements.

We collate information on licences by county and therefore my Department can provide the information requested for County Cork. If the Deputy has queries around individual licences, he should advise the applicant to contact my Department directly.

1.

Afforestation approvals January 2021 – February 2024 in Co. Cork	Average time per licence
119 Licences	382 days (13 months)

2.

Forest Road approvals January 2021 – February 2024 in Co. Cork	Average time per licence
129 Licences	320 days (11 months)

3.

RUS approvals January 2020 – February 2024 in Co. Cork	Average time per licence
82 Licences	477 days (16 months)

4.

Private Felling approvals January 2021 – February 2024 in Co. Cork	Average time per licence
456 Licences	467 days (15 months)

5.

Year	RUS applications not decided
2020	4
2021	16
2022	4
2023	19
2024	1

6.

Year	Scheme	Percentage that required an FIR
2020	Afforestation	18%
2020	Roads	11%
2020	RUS	0%
2021	Afforestation	27%
2021	Roads	44%
2021	RUS	30%
2022	Afforestation	30%
2022	Roads	50%
2022	RUS	45%
2023	Afforestation	30%
2023	Roads	18%
2023	RUS	86%
2024	Afforestation	0%
2024	Roads	0%
2024	RUS	61%

Year	Percentage of Private Felling licences that required an FIR
2020	22%
2021	38%
2022	48%
2023	44%

Year	Percentage of Coillte Felling licences that required an FIR
2020	No Further Information requests issued
2021	18.5%
2022	10.7%
2023	8.5%

7.

Year	Scheme	Percentage of Form 2 applications that had a Remedial letter issued
2020	Afforestation	9%
2020	Roads	30%
2020	RUS	0%
2021	Afforestation	5%
2021	Roads	43%
2021	RUS	0%
2022	Afforestation	20%
2022	Roads	57%
2022	RUS	0%
2023	Afforestation	31%
2023	Roads	52%
2023	RUS	50%
2024	Afforestation	0%
2024	Roads	100%
2024	RUS	0%