Forestry Sector.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 March 2006

Wednesday, 1 March 2006

Questions (153, 154)

Ciarán Cuffe

Question:

168 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of hectares of hardwoods which were harvested and sold by Coillte in the past five years. [8473/06]

Ciarán Cuffe

Question:

169 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of hectares of hardwoods which were planted by Coillte in the past five years; the areas in which they were planted; and the native trees which were sown. [8474/06]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mary Coughlan)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 168 and 169 together.

The number of hectares of hardwoods which were harvested and sold by Coillte in the past five years are outlined in the table below.

Year	Number of Hectares
2001	7
2002	5.7
2003	0
2004	2.1
2005	1.2

Coillte's policy towards the management of broad-leaved trees is to prolong the rotation to a maximum through planned thinning and understorey regeneration.

In the same period, Coillte has planted over 3,000 hectares of broad-leaved trees. The details are outlined in the following table.

Broadleaf Planting by Coillte Teoranta District (hectares)

Area	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Wicklow-Dublin	65	76	136	75	26
Wexford	184	73	34	66	120
Laois-Offaly-Kildare	66	29	63	54	53
Waterford-South Tipperary	86	94	68	86	68
Limerick-North Tipperary	27	28	35	46	69
Cork	58	69	39	77	77
West Cork-South Kerry	11	28	19	27	23
Donegal	0	0	2	19	0
Sligo-Leitrim	16	0	4	19	17
North Leinster	58	7	53	72	24
Clare	82	83	35	63	65
East Galway-Roscommon	24	26	31	66	20
Mayo-Connemara	58	46	35	90	64
Total	735	559	554	760	626

The native trees sown in the period were predominantly ash, oak, alder, birch and rowan. Minor quantities of hazel, scots pine, maple, whitethorn and wild cherry were also used. Other broadleaves such as beech and sycamore were also sown.