Monica Barnes
Question:8 Mrs. Barnes asked the Minister for Energy the numbers who are currently employed in forestry; the current acreage of forest; and the comparable figures for preceding years.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Forestry Statistics.
Proinsias De Rossa
Question:41 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Energy if he will outline the progress made with regard to the achievement of the objectives for forestry set out in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
John Connor
Question:56 Mr. Connor asked the Minister for Energy if he will outline the proportion of all the land in the State which is now under State or private forest; and the way in which this portion of national forest estate compares with the EC average.
Austin Deasy
Question:103 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Energy if he will outline, (1) the present area of the country which is attorested and (2) the objectives in this regard for the year 2000.
I propose to answer Questions Nos. 8, 41, 56 and 103 together.
The total effective forest area on 31 December 1991 was 0.456 million hectares. This area represents about 6.7 per cent of all land in the State. Within the EC overall, 24 per cent of all land is classified as forest. The total effective forest area in Ireland for the three years 1988 to 1990 was as follows:
|
Year |
Million Hectares |
|
1988 |
0.407 |
|
1989 |
0.422 |
|
1990 |
0.438 |
While employment statistics are a matter for the Central Statistics Office and not for my Department, I can provide the Deputies with the following information which may be of assistance. There were 1,772 permanent employees in Coillte Teoranta on 1 January 1992. The comparable figure for 1991 was 1,966. While I do not have overall employment figures for the forestry sector I can say that the gross employment created by the expansion of forestry activity under the Programme for National Recovery up to the end of 1990 was some 1,400 jobs. I am satisfied that the forestry employment targets set out in that programme were not alone achieved but were, in fact, exceeded.
Under the Programme for Economic and Social Progress over 620 full-time job equivalents were created in 1991, and I expect gross job creation in 1992 and 1993 to exceed 1,000. The programme also calls for an expansion of national planting to 30,000 hectares per annum for the period 1993 to 2000. Achievement of this target will raise forest cover to about 10 per cent by the turn of the century. Last year 23,390 hectares were planted and I expect planting this year to exceed 24,000 hectares.
Timber production last year reached 1.76 million cubic metres and the target for 1992 is 1.9 million cubic metres. The 2.0 million cubic metres forecast by 1993 in the programme is likely to be exceeded. Combined public and private sector forest road construction over the period 1990-91 was close on 270 kilometres. The 500 kilometres of forest roads targeted for construction over the period 1990 to 1993 is expected to be exceeded.
Will the Minister say what steps have been taken to give preference to farmer-owner undertakings in afforestation and to encourage further investment by pension funds, both of which were promised in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress?
I am not sure I heard the Deputy clearly.
Under the heading of Forestry in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress it is stated, “the greatest incentives will be available for the planting of lands previously enclosed for agricultural purposes with a weighting in favour of the farmer-owner undertaking such afforestation”. What arrangements have been made to provide that weighting? The Programme for Economic and Social Progress also states that encouragement would be given for pension funds to invest in forestry. What steps have been taken in that regard?
In general, for both categories mentioned by the Deputy, grant incentives have been considerably improved, with the help of the EC, which has made moneys available for forestry activity as an alternative to conventional agriculture. The grant and tax incentives are geared towards greater investment. The indications are that that programme is successful. The growth in private forestry in recent years has been quite spectacular and, happily, there has also been a growth in public forestry. Private investment in forestry is now almost equal to that of public investment and will pass it out shortly.
Did the Minister say the number of employees had decreased to 1,772 for 1992 from the 1990 figure of 1,966? Perhaps I misheard the Minister; I am a little surprised at those figures.
When I said to Deputy De Rossa that private forestry was passing out public forestry——
I am referring to the Minister's original reply.
——I meant in terms of annual planting. The total volume of forestry in place would still be predominantly public because in the earlier years of the State there was almost no private forestry.
The figures referred to by Deputy Flaherty which showed a decrease related to permanent employees in Coillte Teoranta. The overall number employed in forestry in recent years has increased but the increase has been in private enterprises.
Does the Minister have available figures relating to the tonnage of timber exported out of the State for processing, thereby losing much of the added value which is gained outside the State? I accept that the Minister may not have those figures in the House. Do the Department of Energy have any plans to try to gain the added value for this State?
I do not have figures relating to the tonnage exported because that information was not sought in any of the questions. I have given the total volume of production, which last year was 1.76 million cubic metres; this year will be 1.9 million cubic metres and in 1993 should be in excess of 2 million cubic metres. The great bulk of that production is processed in the State. I cannot say what proportion is exported.
Quite an amount of it.
What steps could the Minister take to protect the interests of landowners whose land has been declared an area of scientific interest in regard to qualification for afforestation grants, particularly in the light of a recent court ruling on this issue?
I am afraid we are having an extension of the question.
That is an entirely different question and I do not have that information available to me.
That is quite a separate matter, Deputy McCormack.
I tried to table a separate question on the matter but it was not taken to-day.
If the Deputy consults my office, I shall try to facilitate him in every way.
Will the Minister answer the question?
The Minister stated that in 1988, 407 hectares were planted, in 1989, 422 hectares were planted and in 1990, 438 hectares were planted. How much of that plantation was private and how much was public? How much of the timber produced in those three years came from State forests and how much came from private forests?
The figures I gave for the three years related to the total effective forest area in Ireland, and the correct figures were 0.407 million hectares, 0.422 million hectares and 0.438 million hectares.
How much of that planting was private and how much was public?
Public plantings for the three years 1989 to 1991, inclusive, were 10,057; 10,329 and 12,006 hectares per annum respectively. Private plantings for the same three years were 8,594, 9,217 and 11,385 hectares respectively.
The Programme for Economic and Social Progress indicated that the scheme for forestry was hoped to provide for import substitution and earn export revenue. To what extent has the growth in planting and harvesting of forests assisted import substitution?
Recent planting would not have any bearing on import substitution. The most important work that can be done in regard to import substitution is in respect of mature timber particularly for the building and furniture industries.
I am glad to be able to tell the Deputy that a new research facility commenced in the University of Limerick in the past year or so. A good deal of research into both indigenous Irish timber and the usual coniferous species that are also grown here is being carried out. The studies and work carried out show that the timber is suitable for many purposes for which we have until now relied entirely on imports. When that develops more widely and becomes commercially available there will be a dramatic substitution of Irish timber for imported timber, and the traditional view of the alleged unsuitability of Irish timber will be overcome.
I wish to point out that in the year in which I have been spokesperson on Energy, this is the first time we have reached forestry issues. Regrettably we are testing out many ideas with the wrong Minister, but Deputy O'Malley substitutes very well. While accepting that there has been a substantial increase in planting and employment from forestry in the public and private sectors, given that there will be a 50 per cent EC wood deficit by the end of the century, given that the percentage of our land used for forestry purposes — at 6 per cent — is so far below the 20 per cent to 25 per cent EC average, does the Minister not think there is substantial additional scope for employment creation and increased investment in this area on the part of the public and private sectors; that the targets set in the Programme for Government are not realising anything like their full potential in one area which holds enormous potential by way of employment and economic return for this country?
The Deputy will appreciate from the figures I have given that there has been a dramatic increase in planting in recent years, particularly on the private side, but the public level of planting nowadays is also forging ahead to levels much higher that they ever were in the past. In fact, they are double what they were some years ago. The rate of private planting is greater by a factor of 20 than it was some years ago. Obviously, in terms of utilisation, it will be some time — because of the nature of timber and forestry — before the country reaps the full value. We are certainly building up an extremely valuable asset for the future especially, as the Deputy rightly said, as the EC is at present only 50 per cent self-sufficient in timber and may be a lot less than 50 per cent self-sufficient during the early part of the next century.