Brian Stanley
Question:33. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions being taken to deal with the crisis in the forestry sector due to the felling licence delays. [50694/21]
View answerThursday, 21 October 2021
Questions (33)
Written answers
Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett who has overall responsibility for the sector, I am in regular and intensive consultation with all stakeholders, and it is my immediate priority to resolve the issues which have led to this backlog and to issue licences in the volume needed for this important sector to continue to contribute to our rural economy.
I am pleased to say that we are making significant progress on felling licences and that the volume of timber likely to be licenced thus year will be the highest on record. It is already 90% higher than last year.
The Department recently examined all tree felling licences referred to ecology. This resulted in approximately 50% of applications being returned to applicants or their Registered Forester, seeking further information, often a well-developed harvest plan. We have begun to receive responses to these requests and would urge all applicants and registered foresters to reply to our communication so that these cases may progress.
In June this year, the Department issued 415 forestry licences. This output was interrupted in July and August by the introduction of a new requirement for public participation under SI 293/2021, signed on 25th June by the Minister for Housing Local Government and Heritage and which applies to all similar planning issues. However we have now returned and indeed exceeded expected levels with 585 licences issued in September, 511 of which were felling licences. Up to 15th October, my Department has issued 2,057 tree felling licences to cover a volume of just over six million cubic metres. Furthermore, Coillte's felling programme is fully licensed and they are working with the Department to ensure availability for this supply to market. We expect that their 2022 programme will be fully complete by year-end.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate my commitment to supporting the forest sector and to building on the recent progress, so that a continual improvement in delivery is achieved.