Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2021
1990. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 1016 of 10 March 2021, if he is stating that the forestry sector is not a relevant stakeholder with regard to the CAP strategic plan; if the forest sector, which is a section of his Department, is not a part of the CAP process regardless of the way in which it is funded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15012/21]
View answer1993. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 1016 of 10 March 2021, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that he has excluded the entire private forestry sector and appears to be reliant on his officials who have presided over the demise of the current forestry programme under the current CAP in his reference to all relevant stakeholders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15015/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1990 and 1993 together.
As already advised, the forestry programme will be delivered entirely separately from the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) and will be subject to new State Aid rules rather than the requirements of the CSP regulations.
There are a number of stakeholder groups active at the moment inputting to both the CAP, Agri-Food Strategy 2030 and Forestry Programme processes amongst others. All of these processes have both stakeholders inputting directly and public consultation phases, so there is maximum opportunity for interested persons to make their views known.
The interlinkages between these two significant programmes of CAP and forestry is well understood and is, I believe, very much catered for. The Forestry Policy Group is the primary stakeholder group which will input into forestry policy development for the next Forestry Programme.
Various stakeholder organisations have representation on both the CAP post-2020 Consultative Committee and the Forestry Policy Group to further enhance coherence between both policy areas. Similarly, my Department is well coordinated internally to ensure that all of the relevant issues are included in these issues. My Department is engaging bilaterally also with the forestry sector on the CAP for this reason.
In addition, the newly-launched Project Woodland, which among other things looks to the development of woodland creation into the future, provides a dedicated Working Group for the preparation of a new Forestry Strategy for Ireland. This Working Group, chaired by Dr. Matt Crowe and with a representative membership of external stakeholders, seeks to develop a shared cross-society vision for the role of trees, woods and forests in Ireland's future.
I would like to re-iterate my commitment to a strong CAP Strategic Plan and to an ambitious successor to the Forestry Programme, both of which I would see as delivering for farmers, rural communities and for society as a whole. I also reiterate my commitment to better integration between both of these policies as envisaged in the Programme for Government and would encourage all stakeholders to make their views known on these important processes as they progress.
