Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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613. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for a breakdown of the number of forestry owners including companies/corporations that have forestry holding of less than five hectares, between five and ten hectares, between ten and 15 hectares, between 15 and 20 hectares; and the number that have more than 20 hectares. [68461/26]

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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614. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide a breakdown of the number of forests that are owned by companies / corporations; and the number that are owned by individuals. [68472/26]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 613 and 614 together.

My Department has forest ownership information, from the time of initial afforestation, on those private forests which were established since 1980 through successive afforestation programmes. Ownership details are maintained by the Department for the time period that those forests are in receipt of afforestation support payments, which is typically 15 to 20 years. After this time forest ownership can change and the new owners are not required to notify the Department as the support payments have ceased.

Using the information from the time of initial afforestation, it is estimated that 24,510 private landowners have created over 300,000 hectares of new forests since 1980. The table below provides the number of forest owners in 5 hectare area classes. It is not possible to accurately provide information on the breakdown of the number of forests that are owned by companies/corporations and the number that are owned by individuals, given landowner in various programmes did not have to declare this. However, records show that 79% of the private area afforested since 1980 has been established by farmers.

Through the Forestry Programme 2023–2027, my Department is committed to expanding forest cover and delivering long-term climate, biodiversity, and economic benefits.