Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 October 2021
296. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the management structure and reporting lines or line managers of the Forest Service of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51403/21]
View answer297. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the productivity of each of the inspectors and their line managers in the Forest Service in each of the years 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51404/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 296 and 297 together.
There are three Divisions within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine dealing with forestry matters – Forestry Policy Division, Forestry Inspectorate Division and Forest Sector Development Division.
The first is led by a Principal Officer and the other two are led by Senior Inspectors. The three divisions report to the Assistant Secretary General with responsibility for forestry. Within this structure on the administrative side, there are Assistant Principal Officers, Higher Executive Officers, Executive Officers and Clerical Officers. On the inspectorate and forest sector development side, there are Grade 1, 2 and 3 Forestry Inspectors as well as some administrative staff.
The performance of all DAFM staff is managed through a Performance Management Development System. Inspectors are involved in a range of activities, many of which involve interdependencies with other colleagues. They are, for instance, involved in payment and licensing applications, inspections, alleged illegal felling, appeals, policy and environmental matters, forestry support schemes and forest health. This means that productivity cannot be conveyed by any one metric.
