asked the Minister for Lands if he will state, even if very approximately, the number of labourers likely to be employed on reafforestation per 1,000 statute acres of land planted over a five-year period (a) in winter; (b) in summer; and to state further the number of persons employed per 1,000 acres in years subsequent to those in which drainage, reclamation and planting would have been completed on any individual project or projects covering the same acreage.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Employment on Reafforestation.
If the planting referred to in the first part of the question means the planting of 200 acres annually over a period of five years the number of labourers likely to be employed in the winter is 30 and in the summer ten or the equivalent of 20 men throughout the whole year.
The maintenance of 1,000 acres of young plantations would involve the employment of seven men up to about the 20th year after which the numbers would gradually increase as the plantations reached the thinning stage until finally about 13 men would be required for 1,000 acres worked on a continuous rotation.
It should be understood that the figures are average ones and might vary somewhat for any particular area.