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Forestry Sector

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 November 2021

Tuesday, 9 November 2021

Questions (726, 727, 728, 729)

Seán Canney

Question:

726. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will apply the maximum timelines on each application in a functioning licensing system for forestry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54706/21]

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Seán Canney

Question:

727. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a refined timeframe will be provided for the implementation of the MacKinnon Report on the review of the approval process for forestation in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54707/21]

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Seán Canney

Question:

728. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will introduce a single licence application system to deal with planting, thinning and harvesting to give certainty to the forestry industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54708/21]

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Seán Canney

Question:

729. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will set up a forestry development agency to promote and represent the forestry sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54709/21]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 726 to 729, inclusive, together.

As you will be aware Project Woodland is a framework for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the licensing system and for the creation of a new vision for woodland creation in Ireland.

I am pleased to report that substantial work has been undertaken by all Working Groups and the Project Board of Project Woodland, with regular meetings held resulting in a high level of output in both terms of quality and quantity. The Project Board, published its second interim report on the 29th October, which is available at:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/642e6-forestry/#project-woodland

The Board have advanced some immediate priorities and agreed to advance two Working Group recommendations immediately: an external regulatory review and the conducting of a public consultation process on the new Forest Strategy.

The Department has placed a contract for the regulatory review with report due by end February, 2022. It will review the existing statutory framework for the licensing of forestry activities in relation to environmental and public participation obligations in order that practical advice can be provided to the Department on how to work more efficiently within the existing legal framework.

This will include consideration of a single consent system for licensing.

In addition, an independent Systems Analyst is conducting an end-to-end process review with a view to licensing process improvement and an interim report on this work has recently been submitted to the Project Board.

There has also been significant work carried out on all other aspects of Project Woodland to and some of these, along with the process and regulatory review, will inform the setting of definitive timelines for the delivery of forestry licences. These include:

- A pilot project for pre-application discussions.

- Payment of an Environmental Planning Grant.

- A new Customer Charter for forestry.

- A Communication Plan that assists in conveying the multi-functional benefits of forestry.

- A review of the organisational structure of forestry within my Department.

- Commission of a Training Needs analysis.

- Definition of the backlog and associated dashboards.

- Actions relating to reduction of the backlog.

Alongside Project Woodland, my Department continues to address the licensing issue, and we have invested significant resources in order to deal with the backlog, which I know is impacting the sector. We now have 27 ecologists, and additional forestry inspectors and administrative staff have been put in place.

Furthermore, improved processes have been introduced to allow ecologists focus on the ecological aspects of files referred to them. This has had a positive effect on licence delivery and in the last 8 weeks we have issued on average 117 licences per week. I am hopeful that we will meet our target of 4,000 licences this year as compared to 2,593 last year.

While we still have a way to go, we are moving in the right direction.

Regarding the establishment of a forestry development agency, I would like to advise the Deputy the COFORD Council is a body appointed by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to advise me and my Department on issues related to the development of the forest sector in Ireland.

The membership comprises stakeholders from across the forest sector, including government departments, its agencies, NGOs and the private sector.

Under Project Woodland it is planned to review the roles of COFORD, Teagasc and Coillte.

In conclusion, I would like to recognise the momentum and progress made under Project Woodland and I acknowledge the hard work and commitment shown by all involved, in particular the representatives from the Forestry Policy Group.

I would also like to reiterate my commitment and that of Minister Hackett to ensuring that Project Woodland is fully implemented for the benefit of landowners, forest owners, producers, and all those working in the forestry sector, as well as society as a whole.

Question No. 727 answered with Question No. 726.
Question No. 728 answered with Question No. 726.
Question No. 729 answered with Question No. 726.
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