Holly Cairns
Question:481. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he will publish the forestry licensing plan for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21236/23]
View answerTuesday, 9 May 2023
Questions (481)
Written answers
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine published the Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 in February last year. The plan informed stakeholders of our targets for the delivery of afforestation, felling and forest road licences, and of our commitment to reducing the backlog. There is obvious merit in signalling to forest owners, landowners, and the forest sector our intentions as regards licensing which is why I intend to publish a new Forestry Licensing Plan once the new Forestry Programme has been approved at national and EU levels. My Department has been engaging intensively with the Commission over the last few months. This was a necessary process and I am pleased to confirm that the formal State Aid notification for the new Forestry Programme was submitted on 20th April. We now await the formal approval of the Commission to the Programme. Both I and Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, are absolutely committed to delivering an excellent forestry programme for the benefit of farmers, landowners, the climate, rural communities and the overall economy. Meanwhile, statistics on forestry are available on the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine’s website here: www.gov.ie/en/collection/15b56-forest-statistics-and-mapping/#annual-forest-sector-statistics. This includes the Forest Statistics Annual Report 2022, Forestry Division’s Monthly reports, and weekly dashboards.