Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022
673. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 59 of 9 December 2021, if the payment process for the payment of ecological reports has been fully agreed with the relevant working group in Project Woodland; if the working group is fully supportive of these plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2893/22]
View answerMy Department has recognised the increased cost of compliance for applicants through the introduction of a higher grant payable at the Form 2 stage in the process i.e. after the site is planted.
For a variety of reasons the new grant is not what was postponed by the working group but is designed to make a contribution to those costs as quickly and efficiently as possible.
In addition, my Department is continuing in parallel to explore the feasibility of developing another system for such payments more closely aligned to that proposed by working group 4.
This will need to examine the resource and system implications of such a system which could be large in the context of other priorities this year for my Department. It is our intention to present our preliminary findings to an upcoming meeting of the Project Woodland Project Board most likely in March.
