Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
3410. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the output to date in 2021 of afforestation, roads and felling licences; the way this compares with the licensing output for the same dates in each of the years 2016 to 2020; the percentage increase or decrease in output compared to those dates in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40458/21]
View answer3411. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of felling, afforestation and roads licences yet to be approved by county and nationally in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40459/21]
View answer3414. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total forestry licensing output to date; the output required in the remaining months of 2021 if his Department is to reach its stated aim of issuing 4,500 forestry licences in 2021 for each month in 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40462/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 3410, 3411 and 3414 together.
Resolving the delays in issuing forestry licences is one of my top priorities as Minister. Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett who has responsibility for the sector, we have devoted considerable efforts towards resolving it. The reasons for the current backlog are well known. The Department was obliged to make significant changes to the forestry licensing system due to European Court of Justice and Irish law rulings relating to the protection of European sites. This led directly to most forestry projects being screened in for Appropriate Assessment.
This has been very challenging to implement and resulted in a requirement for much greater ecological input into licensing and to a delay in issuing licences, while new procedures were introduced and additional IT, ecology and inspectorate resources were put in place. Significant resources and investment have been devoted to implementing these new procedures and Minister of State Hackett has introduced a framework under Project Woodland towards resolving the entire licensing issue.
Improvements have been made to the system for the preparation of Appropriate Assessment Screening Determinations, Appropriate Assessment Reports and Appropriate Assessment Determinations. Currently, these operate for felling licence applications, and our ecologists are working mostly on these felling applications, but similar process improvements will be applied to assist with forest road works and afforestation licence applications. This was notified to Registered Foresters in Circular 8 of 2021.
June was the highest month for the issuing of private felling licences in over five years and included 226 private felling licences or an average rate of over 50 private felling licences a week. In total, the Department was issuing an average of 95 licences over the last seven weeks which was a 50% increase on previous weeks this year.
This rate of licence decisions will not be possible in July and early August because of the introduction of a mandatory consultation period of 30 days for cases that are undergoing Appropriate Assessment, but output will increase again from mid-August. Continued high output will also depend on receiving good quality harvest plans from applicants and their agents and good quality Natura Impact Statements (NIS), where sought.
Initiatives under Project Woodland will bring further improvements in licensing efficiency and output. The Project Board overseeing the project had issued its first interim report this week outlining some next steps in respect of recommendations received. A business system analyst is conducting a review of the licensing process. Furthermore, a regulatory review of the licensing system will be carried out by an independent expert.
The Department has now issued 1,900 forestry licences this year (to 23rd July), which is 25% up on the same time last year. I expect that the latter months of the year will see the target 4,500 licences achieved. We are making progress and I am hopeful that further gains in efficiency will be possible due to these proposals.
The attached spreadsheet shows the number of licences issued by type from 2016 to 2020 and to 23rd July 2021, for afforestation, forest road works and tree felling licences. It also shows the total for each licence type for the first half (January to June) in each year 2016 to 2021 and a percentage comparison of the number of licences issued, for each licence type in each year, against 2021.
