Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 April 2021
388. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when his Department will provide this Deputy with a timeframe for forestry licence applications that have been in the system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17828/21]
View answerI am aware of the issues facing the forestry sector and considerable efforts have been made to address them. Additional resources have been recruited and training, information and guidance has been provided to both Departmental staff and registered foresters and, as a result, we have seen gains in terms of output.
The introduction of Project Woodland, recently launched by Minister-of-State Pippa Hackett, with responsibility for forestry, is our strategy for resolving the licensing issues. This new structure aims to ensure that the current backlog is addressed. The Project involves a review and refresh of our processes and procedures and includes outside stakeholder participation to bring an independent perspective. It is a task-driven process, with clear deliverable and milestones.
Working Group 1 under Project Woodland is specifically tasked with reducing the backlog and then plotting a trajectory to achieve this target. The recommendation in Ms Jo O'Hara's Implementation Report is that this Group publish a process to achieve these targets, including prioritisation and scheduling and that a monthly dashboard show the outcome of this process against the target trajectory. Meanwhile, Working Group 4 will address Effective Processes, which will include clearer explanations for the statutory basis for forestry regulation and the introduction of more efficient and effective processes. I expect there will be cross-cutting issues between these two groups.
A target to issue 4,500 licences in 2021 has been set which is a 75% increase on 2020.
I remain hopeful and confident that the changes presented under the Project Woodland structure to processes within my Department will bear fruit, particularly to give confidence to all applicants that they can receive a timely decision on their forestry licence application.
The tables below show the average time taken to decide on an application received for each of the three categories of licence, broken down by the year received, for 2018 to 2020.
It is worth noting that there are always licences in the system at various stages of processing. These are the initial stages of an application being made, while the registered forester finalises application documents to referral to prescribed bodies, referral to the inspector and/or ecologist/archaeologist, to making final decision. Applications may also be returned to the applicant (and their registered forester, where relevant) for further information.
The average time taken for a decision to issue on a felling application, averaged over the last three years was seven months. The average time an undecided felling licence has been in the system is 13 months.
The average time taken for a decision to issue on an afforestation application, averaged over the last three years was six months. The average time an undecided afforestation licence has been in the system is 17 months.
The average time taken for a decision to issue on a Forest Road application, averaged over the last three years was six months. The average time an undecided Forest Road licence has been in the system is 15 months.
Felling
|
Year Received |
Avg. Days from app to licence |
Months (30) |
|
2018 |
180 |
6 |
|
2019 |
241 |
8 |
|
2020 |
137 |
5 |
|
All years |
197 |
7 |
|
Undecided |
406 |
14 |
Afforestation
|
Year Received |
Avg. Days from app to licence |
Months (30) |
|
2018 |
180 |
6 |
|
2019 |
201 |
7 |
|
2020 |
136 |
5 |
|
All years |
182 |
6 |
|
Undecided |
495 |
17 |
Roads
|
Year Received |
Avg. Days from app to licence |
Months (30) |
|
2018 |
186 |
6 |
|
2019 |
189 |
6 |
|
2020 |
164 |
5 |
|
All years |
184 |
6 |
|
Undecided |
437 |
15 |
