Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2160. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current procedure by which afforestation licence applications are referred to the ecology unit; and the average processing times to first response and final decision. [41348/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2161. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the mechanisms that exist to ensure active communication between ecology unit staff, the forest service inspectorate, the forester who submitted the application and the landowner throughout the field assessment process. [41349/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2162. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the details of any Service Level Agreement, SLA, or target for maximum review time within the ecology unit; and the proportion of applications exceeding this SLA in each of the past three years. [41350/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2163. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration is being given to changes that would allow foresters or landowners to participate with consent in site visits or interim discussions so that unsuitable areas can be flagged early, avoiding wasted time and resources. [41351/25]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2160, 2161, 2162 and 2163 together.

My Department has a well defined application process for afforestation licences. This process is outlined in Appendix 2 of the Forest Strategy Implementation Plan which is available at the following link .

During the pre-approval assessment process, the forestry inspector may refer a file to the Ecology Unit. All files that are screened in for appropriate assessment are referred for ecology input. Other files that are within certain sensitive ecological areas (for example, in high nature value farmland areas, in hen harrier sensitive areas and in breeding wader sensitive areas) may also be forwarded to the Ecology Unit to review any ecology reports submitted by the applicant.

My Department is committed to achieving the targets for turnaround times as set out in the farmers charter, these are a processing time of within 6 months for screened-out applications (those not subject to Stage 2 Appropriate Assessment) and within 9 months for screened-in applications (those subject to Stage 2 Appropriate Assessment). Approximately three quarters of files achieve the farmers charter targets. All files are monitored closely by managers to ensure an efficient service but individual files that are referred to ecology may vary in turn around time as a result of the requirement for seasonal surveys and the complexity of the file. My Department has introduced a file tracking system that helps applicants identify where an application is in process.

In relation to communications regarding an afforestation application I would recommend that in the first instance applicants and their forester should engage with a pre-application discussion (PAD). This provides a facility where my officials, whether inspector or ecologist or both, will help inform what information may be required at application stage and flag at an early stage the possible issues that may arise. This process is also useful to highlight unsuitable areas at an early stage avoiding wasted time and resources.

In addition my Department provides virtual and in person training to registered foresters and private ecologists working in the field to increase the quality of applications being submitted. Regular circulars are also issued, to flag changes in procedures, and any new requirements.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2164. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total cost of the running the forest service in each of the years 2020 to 2024, in tabular form. [41352/25]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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My Department has a broad role as the regulatory authority for Forestry in Ireland which covers a forest area of 808,848 ha or 11.6% of the total land area. This national forest estate supports a wide range of jobs and services along the supply chain from nurseries to forest management, recreation, supporting habitats and species to processing timber for sale. Staff in my Department work in a wide variety of roles that support an expanding forest estate and provide a range of regulatory functions.

The table below details the expenditure incurred by the Forest Service from 2020 to 2024 inclusive, broken down by expenditure related to the implementation of the Forestry Programme and the associated administrative costs.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2165. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide a breakdown of the administration costs per hectare, by licence type for afforestation, felling, and forest road; the total hectares processed under each licence category; and the average administration cost per hectare for applications that were ultimately approved versus those that were withdrawn or refused, for each of the past three years, in tabular form. [41353/25]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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My Department has a broad role in relation to forestry, including as the regulatory authority for forestry in Ireland which covers a forest area of 808,848 ha or 11.6% of the total land area. This national forest estate supports a wide range of jobs and services along the supply chain from nurseries to forest management, recreation, supporting habitats and species to processing timber for sale.

Staff in my Department work in a wide variety of roles that support an expanding forest estate and provide a range of regulatory functions. These staff may also be involved in many areas not directly related to afforestation including carrying out inventories of our national forest estate, facilitating the certification of wood pallets for trade and funding forest research and innovation.

While it is not possible to provide a breakdown of the administration costs per hectare and licence type, the table below shows the total staff related costs for the 3 forestry divisions over the past 3 years.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2166. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average processing time for applications under the re-establishment upon successful reconstitution scheme dealing with ash die-back replanting, broken down by application size. [41354/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2168. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason applications for re-establishment on already planted land suffer the same lengthy delays as new afforestation applications; and the steps that will be taken to introduce an expedited decision making track for diseased stands. [41356/25]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2166 and 2168 together.

While Ireland’s forests are in relatively good health, there have been challenges, including Ash Dieback disease, which have had significant impact on forest owners. The need for support in this regard has been well recognised by successive Irish governments. An additional €79.5 million is now available under the Climate Action Performance Payment, launched in April 2024, to pay €5,000 per hectare to ash plantation owners, bringing the financial package available to over €230 million.

Applications for Reconstitution of Ash Dieback are being prioritised by my Department. Turnaround times are reducing and are currently at 4 months in line with the agreed Farmers Charter commitment timeline of 6 months and 9 months. The breakdown you have requested is as follows:

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2167. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of hectares approved and replanted under the re-establishment upon successful reconstitution scheme since its inception. [41355/25]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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The Ash Dieback replanting scheme provides financial support to help replant forests affected by the chalara ash fungus. The disease can affect ash trees of any age and in any setting.

The Department has introduced the following schemes to clear and replant ash forests impacted by ash dieback:

• Reconstitution Scheme Ash Dieback 2013
• Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (Ash Dieback) 2020
• Interim Reconstitution Scheme for Ash Dieback 2023
• Reconstitution for Ash Dieback Scheme 2023-2027