Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 April 2023
442. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the forestry programme will commence; when it will provide income for stakeholders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19177/23]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that funding of €1.3 billion has now been secured for the next Forestry Programme. Subject to State Aid approval, this will support the biggest and best-funded Forestry Programme to date in Ireland. This funding provides unprecedented incentives to encourage the planting of trees that can provide a valuable addition to farm income and also to help meet our national climate and biodiversity objectives.
It includes proposed attractive grant and premiums that will support landowners to plant trees in a manner to providing lasting benefits for many key areas including climate change, biodiversity, wood production, employment alongside enhancing societal benefits.
I am aware of the urgency in which planting must take place, given the importance of afforestation for our ambitious planting targets and for the continuation of work to this sector. In order to address the lacuna between the two Forestry Programmes, my Department has introduced an Interim Afforestation Scheme and an Interim Forest Road Scheme to provide an option of immediate planting and/or roading from January 2023 for those with existing valid approvals. This ensured that those with valid licence approvals could avail of the current planting season under the higher grant and premium rates proposed to be paid under the new Programme. A similar Scheme was also introduced for Reconstitution and Underplanting (Ash Dieback).
As the Deputy may be aware, the Forestry Programme requires State Aid approval from the European Commission to implement. We have been working intensively with the European Commission to secure this State Aid approval for the new Forestry Programme.
Once Commission approval has been received we will be in a position to launch the new Programme, subject to finalisation of the Strategic Environmental Assessment, which I am assured is nearing completion. At this time, all applications that are in the system are being worked on and processed in the normal manner, progressing to the point just before certification and approval. The aim is to have all the work completed on as many grant aid files as possible, so that approvals will be ready to issue as soon as the state aid approval is granted.
The launch of the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 as a matter of the utmost priority for my and my Department. As a comprehensive and well-subscribed Forestry Programme has the potential to deliver lasting benefits for climate change, biodiversity, wood production, economic development and quality of life.
