asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state what is the number of acres required for afforestation and the number of acres planted during each year from 1922 to 1929 inclusive.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Afforestation.
Mr. Hogan
The total area of land acquired by the Department for afforestation is 43,570 acres.
The following are the figures of the acreage planted during each of the planting seasons referred to:—
|
Season |
Area Planted. |
|
Acres. |
|
|
1922-23 |
959 |
|
1923-24 |
1,176 |
|
1924-25 |
2,210 |
|
1925-26 |
3,053 |
|
1926-27 |
2,908 |
|
1927-28 |
3,435 |
|
1928-29 |
3,446 |
|
17,187 |
Will the Minister inform us if the total acreage which they have acquired is distributed over the Twenty-Six Counties or is the acreage confined only to certain counties?
Mr. Hogan
The land is not bought for the purposes of forestry from the point of view of buying a certain quantity of land in each county. There are some counties where land for forestry cannot be secured, and there are other counties where there is a large acreage of suitable forestry land available. We cannot buy land from the point of view of saying that there must be so much forestry distributed through each county. We buy the land where it is most suitable. I might tell the Deputy that we bought some land in Donegal at last.
I am glad to hear it.