Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
859. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the percentage of afforestation licences issued by his Department in 2021 that exceeded the agreed timeframes set out in the Farmers' Charter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15926/22]
View answerIn 2021 my Department issued 502 afforestation licences for 4,245 hectares. 18% of these were issued within the Farmers Charter timelines of 18 weeks from date advertised.
As the Deputy will be aware we have faced delays in the licensing system because of court judgements that led to a more onerous Appropriate Assessment procedure and the need for ecological input on most licences.
These delays are being dealt with under Project Woodland and our investment in resources and in more streamlined procedures has resulted in an increase in the overall number of licences issued in 2021. We will build on this momentum in 2022 and as outlined in our Licensing Plan will issue 30% more licences overall at 5,250. We will give a higher priority to afforestation licences with a more than doubling of output at 1,040 licences.
It is our aim to reduce the turnaround time for licences from their current levels, and in this respect we will be looking to foresters to submit quality afforestation applications to facilitate more efficient processing. In this regard we have a pilot Pre-Application Discussion scheme available in three districts in order to assist foresters who have questions on the application process, with plans to expand nation-wide.
