I move:
That a sum not exceeding £2,074,300 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1964, for Salaries and Expenses in connection with Forestry, including a Grant-in-Aid for Acquisition of Land.
The net Estimate shows an increase of £245,490 over the 1962/63 net Estimate figures as revised by Supplementary Estimates. The increases in the individual expenditure subheads are as follows:
|
Subhead C.2— |
£ |
|
Forest Development and Management |
126,400 |
|
Subhead C.1— |
|
|
Acquisition of Land |
50,000 |
|
Subheads A and B— |
|
|
Salaries, Wages, Allowances and Travelling Expenses |
42,390 |
|
Minor Expenditure Subheads |
1,700 |
These figures account for an increase of £220,490 in the gross Estimate. The Estimate provision for Appropriations-in-Aid (Subhead G) is down by £250,000.
Deputies will be particularly interested in Subhead C.—Acquisition of Land, Subhead C.2—Forest Development and Management, Subhead G— Appropriations-in-Aid and Subhead D —Grants for Afforestation Purposes. I propose to refer briefly to the remaining Subheads of the Vote before dealing with these in detail.
Subhead A—Salaries, Wages and Allowances—shows an increase of £29,840 on the provision for 1962-63. The rise in requirements is due mainly to increases in the Inspectorate and Forester staff, together with the usual allowances for incremental increases. Subhead B—Travelling Expenses—is higher by £12,550 than the provision for 1962-63. Of this £10,000 represents the increased cost of travelling and subsistence expenditure. The steady increases in the area of State Forest and field staff requirements make a steady rise in the provision for travelling and subsistence inevitable. The remainder of the increase is spread over advertising, publicity, telephones and other miscellaneous expenses and calls for no special comment.
Subhead C.3—Sawmilling—shows an increase of £900. This Subhead provides for the operation of the Department's fixed sawmills at Cong and Dundrum. The rise includes provision for increased wage outgoings to workers at the mills. The provision for Forestry Education—Subhead E— is up by £800 of which £500 arises under general expenses of management. It is expected that in the current year there will be an average of 90 trainee foresters undergoing instruction at the Department's two training establishments. Subhead F—Agency, Advisory and Special Services—shows no change from the provision for last year. The provision under this head is intended to cover the re-engagement of an industrial consultant for short periods in connection with Incentive Bonus Schemes.
Since the Estimate was framed, the Department has formalised arrangements with the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards for the initiation of a programme of testing of Irish grown timber in the Institute's laboratories. The programme agreed with the Institute is designed to establish the mechanical properties of the tree species grown on a considerable scale in Ireland. Reliable scientific data are necessary as a basis for determination of size specifications of structural timbers, working quality for joinery purposes, etc. The programme will, in due course, be co-ordinated with the Department's own research activities in connection with seed provenance and tree improvement. Deputies will be quick to realise the increasing importance of research of this kind to a large scale producer of timber like the Forestry Division. The Forestry Estimate in future years will include a provision of about £10,000 under this Subhead towards the cost of this programme. The tests will be starting immediately but for this year the contribution can be met by savings on other subheads of the Vote.
Turning now to Subhead C.I— Acquisition of Land—it will be noted that provision has been made for an increase of £50,000 under this head. The balance in the Grant-in-Aid Fund on 31st March, 1963 was £155,351 so that with the new grant of £320,000 sought there will be a total of £475,351 available for the purchase of land in 1963/64. The House will recall that during 1962/63 I sought an additional sum of £135,000 in a Supplementary Estimate in order to be in a position to meet certain particularly large commitments then in hands. In fact the more significant commitments in question had not matured by 31st March, and the money was, therefore, carried forward in the balance on the Grant-in-Aid Fund. Apart even from these big cases there was some slowing-down in the progress of negotiations and title clearance work in the closing stages of 1962/63 because of the prolonged disruption of normal life in rural areas due to weather conditions.
The gross total area acquired for State forestry purposes last year was 25,380 acres of which about 23,000 acres were plantable. This was acquired in 528 separate transactions giving an average productive area of 43.5 acres per transaction compared with an average productive area of 45 acres in 1961/62, 51 acres in 1960/61 and 67 acres in 1959/60. The progressive decline in the average size of acquisition to which I referred in previous years has, therefore, continued and inevitably added to the difficulties being encountered by my Department in its efforts to increase the plantable reserve.
The effective plantable reserve on 1st April, 1962 was 51,600 acres. The drain on this reserve to meet the 1962/63 planting programme was eased by the inclusion in the programme of some 1,700 acres of land formerly classified as unplantable and woodland cleared for replanting. With the addition of the plantable area of 23,000 acres acquired in 1962/63 the effective reserve on the 1st April, 1963 was virtually unchanged.
The overall plantable reserve position is still unsatisfactory and continues to give rise to management problems at many forest centres. Until this position can be substantially improved the policy objective of stabilisation of local forest employment cannot be attained.
Substantial progress has been made during the year in the advancement of difficult land acquisition cases being handled under the Forestry Act, 1956. Proceedings were brought to a successful conclusion in four cases involving an area of 2,725 acres. These cases are all very troublesome and time-consuming. In a current total of 368 commonages cases in hands 3,353 separate interests were involved of which 2,829 were on offer to the Department. Despite the difficulties involved price agreement had been reached at 31st March, 1963 in 51 of these cases representing an area of 11,038 acres. Some of these cases can be brought to completion without the use of the 1956 Act procedure but 26 cases totalling 5,420 acres required Vesting Order procedure.
In general, land acquisition prospects for the current year are good and the total of over £475,000 which, as I have explained, will be available this year is not unreasonably high in relation to the general tempo of progress.
Subhead C. 2—Forest Development and Management—totals £2,687,650, an increase of £126,400 on the Estimate for 1962/63. Expenditure on labour continues to account for the major part of expenditure under this subhead. The labour provision for 1962/63 as adjusted by Supplementary Estimate was £2,011,000. The corresponding provision in the 1963/64 Estimate is £2,080,500, an increase of £69,500 on the 1962/63 adjusted figure. The balance of the increase of £126,400 is spread over the non-labour heads.
The provision for Head (1)—State Forest Nurseries—shows an increase of £5,000 on the provision for 1962/63. This is almost entirely accounted for by increased labour costs, the remaining costs being virtually unchanged.
In pursuance of the policy of converting to large scale nurseries three of the smaller nurseries were closed down during the year. There are now nine large scale nurseries in production and it is expected that lands for another will be acquired shortly. Further areas are being considered for acquisition. The provision of plants to meet the planting programme will be much facilitated when the changeover is completed.
Head (2)—Establishment of Plantations—covers all expenditure on fencing, ground preparation, drainage and planting of land, apart from mechanical work charged to Head (6). The provision for 1963/64 is £675,000, an increase of £43,000 on the provision for 1962/63. £29,000 of the increase is in respect of increased labour costs. The remainder of the increase is mainly in respect of fencing materials and manures.
The total area of new plantations established in 1962/63 was 24,400 acres in addition to the reforestation of 325 acres from which the original State plantations had been marketed. 425 acres of plantations destroyed by fire, etc., were replanted during the year. I would like to take this opportunity of paying tribute to the achievement of the Forestry Division in maintaining its reputation for completing its planting programme even in this past winter. Deputies will scarcely need— or wish—to be reminded of the winter of 1962/63. In many areas up to three months of the planting season were lost because the ground was frostbound and often snow covered so that planting was impossible. There was a grave danger that the planting programme would be seriously curtailed. In the light of this the virtual completion of the 25,000-acre programme was an achievement reflecting the greatest credit on all concerned.
By the end of 1962/63 the total woodland area held by my Department was 382,000 acres. Of 371,000 acres of State plantations it is of interest to note that 144,000 acres were planted in the last 6 years.
Planting is being continued at the rate of 25,000 acres this year.
Once again the western counties with some 40 per cent of the overall programme of 25,000 acres will occupy a prominent place. There has been a continuous intake of substantial areas of forest land in the western counties. Over 9,000 acres were acquired in western counties last year and almost half the lands at present being considered for acquisition are situated in that area. In pursuance of the policy of providing employment in this area where sources of productive employment are so badly needed, my Department is continuing its efforts to increase the pace of acquisition and planting there. In addition the Department's extensive research work aimed at achieving afforestation on less fertile peat soils and under other difficult conditions encountered in western regions is continuing.
At present employment is being provided for about 2,000 men in the area and the annual wage bill is in the neighbourhood of £800,000.
Head (3)—New Roads and Buildings —provides for an increase of £27,750 compared with the estimate for 1962/63. £11,000 of this increase is in respect of the labour provision. The remainder is in respect of increased provision for road materials and building. The road construction programme last year was seriously affected by adverse weather conditions. One hundred and seventy miles of road were, however, completed in the year. The provision for 1962/63 is adequate for the completion of 220 miles of roads. Budgeted expenditure of £131,250 on road metalling materials will relate mainly to the supply of stones and gravel by contractors and thus includes a substantial sum for indirect employment.
The provision for buildings is increased from £25,000 in 1962/63 to £35,000 in the current year. This includes a provision of £5,500 for direct labour.
Head (4)—General Forest Management — exceeds the provision for 1962/63 by £53,000, of which all but £7,000 is in respect of increased labour costs. To this head are charged all the expenses of maintenance and protection of State plantations. It is noteworthy that of the total provision of £958,000 under this head £921,000 is in respect of labour. A pattern of regular annual increases under this head is normal. The annual intake of new land and the present planting target of 25,000 acres inevitably involves increasing expenditure on such work as cleaning of young plantations, repairs to fences, drains, roads and buildings, pruning and protection of plantations.
The provision for Head (5)—Timber Conversion — is down by £30,000 compared with the 1962/63 provision. This is mainly due to an anticipated reduction in the availability of material suitable for transmission and telegraph poles. As I have mentioned on previous occasions direct labour felling by my Department is mainly confined to the felling of special orders such as transmission poles for the ESB and the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, and to areas being thinned for the first time. The bulk of forest produce continues to be sold standing to timber merchants who make their own arrangements for felling and extraction.
Head (6)—Mechanical Equipment for Forest Development and Management — is £27,650 in excess of last year. Of this £2,500 is in respect of increased labour costs, £5,000 is being provided for increased purchases of machinery and the balance is due to increased provision for running expenses and repairs.
The sum provided for forest labour in 1963/64 is £2,098,000 against a provision of £2,028,500 in 1962/63 and an actual outturn of £1,993,000 for that year. The current year's provision is, therefore, £165,000 in excess of the 1962/63 outturn.
The average weekly number of men in the direct employment of my Department during 1962/63 was 4,663. The figure of 4,663 is, however, not comparable with previous employment figures as the severest winter in living memory created particular problems of employment in the forests where in many areas for weeks on end men were unable to get to work and in others work was impossible due to the prevailing weather conditions. Had the winter been normal, the employment pattern for the year would have differed only marginally from that of 1961/62, when the average employment level was 4,803.
The Estimate for 1963-64 is adequate to cover an average direct employment level of up to 5,000 men and should, therefore, be sufficient to meet all requirements for the year including the increased tempo of maintenance work.
Before passing from the forest employment position, it may be of interest to the House to point out that while productivity gains under the Incentive Bonus Scheme have enabled a steadily increasing work-load over the past five years to be handled with little change in total labour absorption, there has been a very substantial increase in total outgoings on wages over the period, due to a succession of substantial rises in wage rates. Total expenditure on forest labour in 1958-59 was £1.3 million. The expenditure of over £2 million contemplated by the Estimate now before the House represents an increase of almost £750,000.
That is a welcome boost to the local economy of the rural areas concerned in so far as it represents increased spending power which must have its effect on money circulation generally, but, unfortunately it also indicates a sharp rise in the cost of all forest operations. Forestry costs are particularly sensitive to wage variation because of the high employment content of all Forest work. It is reasonable to presume that in the long term rising timber prices will provide an offset but such a sharp rise in operating costs in a five-year period emphasises the need for the importance which the Department has been placing on the pursuit of maximum economy in production methods and costs. In these fields steady progress is still being made.
The total provision for receipts under Subhead G—Appropriations-in-Aid— at £578,000 is £25,000 less than the revised provision for 1962-63. Actual receipts for the latter year, however, amounted to £564,000 so that in fact we are budgeting for a slight increase over the level of receipts for 1962-63. Revenue from the minor heads, Sawmills, Rents and Miscellaneous is on much the same level as for the past few years but on the major head— Sales of Timber—the general tendency towards an expansion of income from sale of timber in both the sawlog and pulpwood categories has been largely offset in 1962-63 and will be so again in the current year by the drop, to which I have already referred, in the availability of material suitable for conversion to transmission poles for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs and ESB markets. The market for timber of sawlog size has been generally good and there is every indication that the growing volume of material becoming available will find ready sale. The range of outlets for pulpwood was increased during the past year by the commencement of production at the new chipboard factory at Waterford. The total volume of material sold from State forests in 1962-63 was about 6¾ million cu. ft. of which 2½ million cu. ft. was of 8" quarter girth and upwards.
Turning finally to private forestry, the provision for Subhead D—Grants for Afforestation purposes—is the same as the revised figure for 1962/63. During last year, first instalment grants were sanctioned for newly established plantations totalling 1,307 acres. Most of this planting would have been done in the 1961/62 planting season. It is too soon to make more than a rough forecast of planting done in the 1962/63 season but I would not expect a substantial difference from the previous year's outturn. The Department continued its efforts to promote private planting during the past year. Extensive advertising of the Planting Grant Scheme was carried out and lectures on tree planting were given at seventeen Winter Farm School classes throughout the country.
The amount of planting carried out by private landowners has in recent years shown substantial improvement but I am satisfied that there is still room for considerable expansion in the private forestry sector. Since 1958 over 3,000 landowners have availed themselves of the free technical advisory service operated by my Department for Landowners interested in laying down plantations on their farms. This advisory service covers all aspects of the planting—ground preparation, fencing, species selection, planting techniques, etc. Over 13,000 acres have been inspected since 1958 and detailed advice on planting furnished to the owners but less than half that area has been planted so far. I would again appeal to those landowners who have been given detailed advice on the establishment of plantations on their lands to put the work in hands and avail themselves of the generous assistance for which they can qualify when the plantation has been established.
The current level of forest revenue at over £½ million a year is in itself an indication of the very considerable monetary value of our forests today. Total investment value of the State forests is now in excess of £40 million. That investment is something which we must all assist in safeguarding. Our experience already in this calendar year has not been happy; in the 3 months ended on 31st March last almost 100 fires occurred at or near State forests and a total of 102 acres of plantation was destroyed. Each member of the community can help to reduce this loss by promoting greater care in avoiding the risk of fire—the greatest threat to any forest's existence.
