Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 January 2023
1777. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the sustainability of the private forestry sector given the shortage of licences available to the sector since 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63772/22]
View answer1790. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if licensing output by his Department for 2022 will negatively affect employment in the private sector as licence targets were not reached, and also impact positively on Coillte if their licence target has been exceeded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63785/22]
View answer1882. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps that he is taking to ensure the processing of forestry licences from private companies. [2261/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1777, 1790 and 1882 together.
Over the last three years, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has invested significantly on staff resources. These included investment in additional forestry Inspectors, ecologists, engineers and administrative staff. The Department has also invested in improving IT systems and procedures.
Due to continued high output in forestry licensing in 2022, we have seen considerable reductions in the backlog of forestry licences and another significant year-on-year increase in the number of licences issued. In 2022 we issued 1,200 more licences than applications received. In total my Department issued 4,713 licences which was 90% of our targeted output. Most of these licences were for the private sector.
I am fully aware of the low levels of afforestation in recent years, 2022 saw a significant increase in the issuing of afforestation licences with my Department issuing 702 afforestation licences for an area of 4,972 hectares. This means that there are now 1,023 approved afforestation contracts with 7,591 ha ready for planting.
A thriving and resilient private forestry sector will continue to be central to the delivery of the Government’s forestry goal and I believe that the best solution to assisting the sector now is delivery of a well-resourced and ambitious forestry programme including an 8,000 hectare per annum planting programme. I am pleased to have secured the best funded Forestry Programme in the history of the state, with €1.3 billion committed to its implementation. This is a huge vote of confidence in forestry as a public good and in farmers in particular. The expansion of the forest estate will have a significant and lasting impact on employment, not just in planting but in management, harvesting and wood processing down the line.
The premiums on the new forest types have increased from between 46% to 66% and we have introduced five extra years of premiums for farmers, giving them an income for 20 years.
The volume of wood licensed to be felled at the end of 2022 is over 9.5 million cubic metres, which significantly exceeds the COFORD forecast of 4.5 million cubic metres. This is the second year in a row that the volume licensed is more than double the annual forecast volume to be harvested. It is fair to deduce from that, and based on information from the sector, the availability of felling licences is not a limiting factor affecting employment in the sector. Both Coillte and the private sector are receiving sufficient felling licences, with 1,686 and 1,607 licences respectively in 2022, to ensure employment is not affected in the sector.
The most recent COFORD report on economic activity report concluded that employment levels in the sector is likely to grow over the coming decade, particularly in skilled areas such as mechanised forest harvesting as the harvest grows each year from 4.5 million cubic metres in 2022 to 7.1 million cubic metres in 2035.
