Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 October 2021
55. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has reviewed the proposals on the integration of forestry, tree planting, woodland creation, afforestation and woodland management into the CAP Strategic Plan as supplied by Forest Industries Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51248/21]
View answerI would like to thank Forest Industries Ireland and all stakeholders for the submission of proposals on the further integration of tree and forest planting initiatives in the CAP Strategic Plan. These proposals are currently under review by my officials who are in the process of finalising the first draft interventions that will form part of the CAP Strategic Plan.
A consultation on the draft interventions of the CAP Strategic Plan which was conducted in August and September this year has been met with a lot of interest and my Department has received many submissions in response which are currently being examined.
This consultation has taken place in addition to the discussions with the CAP Consultative Committee that have been ongoing over the last two years and more recent bi-lateral meetings with stakeholder organisations, such as Forestry Industries Ireland. There were two such bilateral meetings in recent weeks between my Department and FII and we also presented to the COFORD Council.
All submissions received during the overall consultation process will be taken into consideration in the amended draft interventions.
As outlined in the draft interventions that have been published by my Department, several tree planting measures have been proposed to be included in the CAP Strategic Plan. Due to the long-term nature of forestry, it is not proposed to include forest planting measures in the new CAP measures, but a separate Forestry Programme which will be the successor of the current Forestry Programme 2014-2020 (extended to end 2022) will be developed.
The planting of trees has the potential to play a significant part in our environmental priorities especially water quality, biodiversity and climate. I remain committed to integration between the new Forest Strategy and the next CSP to ensure that measures in both will complement each other and lead to increased levels of tree planting.
