Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 March 2022
221. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of Coillte felling licences included in his Departments dashboard for the week ending 4 March 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15198/22]
View answerThis data is published in a Forestry Dashboard weekly, which is available on my Department's website which can be found at www.gov.ie/en/publication/3b8b5-2022-forestry-weekly-dashboard/.
The Forestry Licensing Plan for this year contains a target of 5,250 licences issues, which is a year-on-year increase of 30% including:
- A higher priority for afforestation licences for 2022 with a 107% increase in output up to 1,040.
- A year-on-year increase of 48% of private felling, roads and afforestation files.
- Private felling licences at 1,830 represents a 36% increase on 2021, while Coillte felling licences at 1,530 will maintain the levels they achieved in 2021.
The Licensing Plan 2022 may be found here gov.ie - Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 (www.gov.ie).
Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, my priority this year is to deliver on the ambition outlined in the Plan and to issue 5,250 licences, and to reach the projected targets in each licence category, including private felling.
