Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 January 2023
1744. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when legislation will be in place removing the requirement for planning permission on ash plantations below ten hectares in size which are being replaced by conifers following the completion of environmental assessment by the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63228/22]
View answer1745. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the clearance grant element of the ash dieback RUS is being retained in the new forestry programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63229/22]
View answer1746. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total area of Ash dieback RUS received by his Department which remain unapproved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63230/22]
View answer1748. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the rate of grant available to farmers who are clearing a forest with ash dieback under the new forestry scheme; the person or body that decides the rate of grant to be paid to an affected farmer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63245/22]
View answer1793. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of RUS licences issued in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63791/22]
View answer1794. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the experience of ash dieback amongst farmers and their dissatisfaction with existing support schemes will have impacted negatively on farmer participation in afforestation, thus reducing planting levels in recent years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63792/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1744, 1745, 1746, 1748, 1793 and 1794 together.
There are a variety of reasons as to why there has been a gradual decline in afforestation rates in recent years.
Since the first finding of ash dieback disease in Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has provided support totalling over €7 million to owners of ash plantations impacted by ash dieback disease through the ash dieback reconstitution scheme (introduced in 2013) and more recently via the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (Ash Dieback) introduced in July 2020.
I have secured a package of €1.3 billion for forestry which will support the biggest and best-funded Forestry Programme to date in Ireland and it is intended to continue to offer the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme through the next Forestry Programme which will cover the period from 2023-2027.
Forest Owners will qualify for a clearance grant and may select from a number of proposed Forest Types. The current scheme provides 100% grant aid to landowners to clear their ash crop, replant with an alternate species and manage their forest until successfully established and it is proposed that, as is currently the case, the grant rates offered will correspond to the equivalent rate offered in the proposed new Afforestation Scheme; see Circular 20 of 2022 Forestry Programme Support Scheme Grants and Payments which may be viewed at gov.ie - Forestry Grants and Premium Schemes 2014 - 2022 Circulars (www.gov.ie)
The Programme, and the Forestry Strategy, which is the framework within which it operates, has recently closed a public consultation from which we are currently collating and reviewing the feedback received, and this in turn will inform the final versions.
I have, of course, also met with landowners whose forests have ash dieback and I am more than aware of their concerns and I will continue to work to address them.
Since the commencement of the RUS – Ash dieback scheme, and up to 31st December this year, a total of 978 applications have been received, covering 3,783ha. Of this total, 390 have been approved, and there remains 587 on hand, covering 2,543 ha, which are at various stages of the approval process.
In 2022, 228 licences issued, covering 1,230ha, with one application refused (10ha).
The Departmental Housing, Local Government and Heritage introduced a legislative change in the Planning and Development Regulations on 14th December 2022, which removes the requirement for planning permission for Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme projects less than 10ha in size that involve the replacement of broadleaf high forest with conifer species, where the project is licensed or approved by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
This legislative change is a welcome development and will simplify the assessment process to a single consent approach, The requirement for projects to be screened by DAFM for sub-threshold Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA) remains in place.
