I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £215,120 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1947, for Salaries and Expenses in connection with Forestry (9 & 10 Geo. 5, c. 58, and No. 34 of 1928), including certain Grants-in-Aid.
In presenting the Estimates for the Forestry Services for 1946-47, I had hoped to be able to announce that certain difficulties affecting planting programmes during the war years had been overcome. Unfortunately I cannot do so. Despite widespread inquiries it was impossible to secure any supplies of rabbit netting last year. As a result, the planting programme fell to a figure of 3,500 acres, the same as was achieved as far back as 1930-31. Nevertheless during the six winters which have elapsed since 1939 we have been able to plant a total of 33,330 acres which, in the circumstances, is a creditable achievement.
I would like to be able to assure the House that next winter will see an appreciable improvement but up to now, although small quantities of barbed wire and of wire netting have been secured, we can get no guarantee for the delivery of the quantities required for a 10,000 acres planting which could be achieved if sufficient fencing materials were obtainable. Our reserves of that commodity are virtually exhausted.
The difficulties of the past few years in securing adequate supplies of seed for the re-stocking of the nurseries have not yet disappeared. It has not been possible to obtain the full quantities required from the United States, Canada or the Continent. In Great Britain certain varieties of seed that were normally to be obtained appear to be in such short supply that export is prohibited. To make up as far as possible for the shortage of imported seed, the collection of home grown seed has been pushed as vigorously as possible. A second seed kiln has been set up by the Forestry Division to deal with the extraction and cleaning of the native seed. The principal varieties collected were Oak, Beech, Sycamore, Chestnut, Japanese Larch, Scots Pine, Mountain Pine, Pinus Insignis and Pinus Contorta.
Deputies may wonder why the Department cannot obtain from its own and other native woodlands all the seed required. The collection of large quantities of suitable seed from our comparatively small and scattered woodlands is a difficult and expensive business. Certain varieties are not obtainable at all and quality is a prime consideration. It is of the utmost importance that seed should be taken from the best possible types of tree. The quality of the parent trees is reflected in the produce of their seed and few of our remaining trees of seed bearing age are perfect specimens of their kind. We are keeping in close touch with all possible sources of supply and it is possible that by next season there will be an improvement.
The net estimate for the current year represents an increase of £17,000 over the amount provided for 1945-'46. The increase is due to additional provision for staff and to a reduction in the receipts estimated from the scales of mature timber. The stocks of mature timber in the hands of the Forestry Division have been so heavily cut over during the past five years that little now remains to be put on the market. The amount provided for the purchase of land remains at the same figure as last year. There is a slightly better outlook as regards the possibilities of securing land for planting. A total of approximately 8,000 acres was acquired last year as against a total of 6,137 in the previous year and approximately 5,000 in the preceding year. This rate of acquisition is more than sufficient to replace the areas planted in the same years.
In dealing with the details under the different sub-heads of the Vote as set out in the printed estimates, I propose to refer only to items which show an appreciable difference from last year's figure, or which seem to call for special comment.
Sub-head A—Salaries, Wages and Allowances, £34,647. The increase required under this sub-head is to provide for the cost of the additional staffs to which I have referred already. Since the Estimates volume was printed, it has been decided to set up for the Forestry Division an accounts staff entirely separate from the staff dealing with the Land Commission accounts. The change involves, in the main, only a transfer of staff from the Land Commission accounts branch. The establishment of a separate accounts branch for the Forestry Division will enable the Department to produce, for the first time, accounts for the forestry service on a commercial basis and that task will be commenced this year.
Sub-head C (1)—Acquisition of Land —Grant-in-Aid, £25,000. The provision under this head has been maintained at the same figure as last year. In introducing last year's Estimates, I mentioned the difficulties which had been encountered in efforts to purchase land held in common by a number of persons. In the Forestry Bill, lately occupying the attention of the House, proposals have been made for simplifying the compulsory acquisition of such lands, but this is not to be taken as an indication that the Forestry Division intends to launch out upon a drastic scheme of compulsory purchases. Purchase by agreement is and will remain the normal and desirable course. Compulsion will be resorted to only in isolated cases such, for instance, as where a majority of persons concerned in the ownership or use of an area of land more fitted for planting than for any other use is willing to sell the interests at reasonable prices and the greed or obstinacy of one or two of the parties associated with the property stands in the way of the improved use of the land in the general interest.
It is anticipated that a balance of about £30,000 will be carried over in the Land Acquisition Fund from the year 1945-46 which, with the provision of £25,000 now requested, will make available for purchases during the year a sum of £55,000.
Subject to the completion of the usual legal formalities, the Forestry Division has agreed to purchase, from private landowners, at a cost of £25,196, areas totalling 9,169 acres and from the Land Commission areas amounting to 585 acres, at a cost of £1,624. In addition, negotiations are in an advanced stage for the purchase, from private owners, of about 4,239 acres, costing approximately £13,136. Negotiations are in progress for the purchase, from the Land Commission, of about 6,125 acres, valued tentatively at £21,270. In short, the probable purchases as foreseen at present amount to 9,755 acres and the possible purchases to 10,364. Some of the negotiations may never come to anything and others will take a considerable time before agreement is reached as to extent, boundaries and price, so that the sum of £55,000 will probably be sufficient to meet all payments that fall to be paid during this financial year.
Sub-head C (2)—Maintenance and Cultural Operations, £260,089. The provision required under this sub-head represents a slight increase upon the amount voted last year. It is based upon a planting programme of 6,000 acres, which it had been hoped to attain last year, but which could not be carried out, and even for next winter it is not at all certain that more than a small portion of this programme can be completed. Everything depends on the quantity of fencing materials secured during the next six months and, to a certain extent, upon the date at which it is secured. To prepare for a large planting programme, without an assurance that the required stocks of rabbit netting will be available, would involve the risk of wasting most of the expenditure involved, whilst on the other hand, the late arrival of supplies would not permit of the completion of the full programme.
For some years past, the Forestry Division has been carrying out a programme of road-making in the forests in order to facilitate the extraction of timber and poles from thinning. It is proposed to continue this work during the current year, and also to accelerate the work of thinning. Many of the earlier plantations laid down by the Department are now in urgent need of thinning. This work is of immense importance for the future of plantations, and must be done carefully and thoroughly, and though there is a limited local market for the produce, the disposal of all the poles thinned out may present a serious problem as the work expands.
The building up of increased nursery stocks in preparation for extended planting programmes in future years is being continued in spite of difficulties in procuring adequate supplies of seed. A change has been made in the form of the Estimate and nursery costs are now shown separately.
The Department now has 16 portable cross-cutting outfits for use in the preparation of firewood blocks from lengths of inferior timber. In view of recent pronouncements regarding the fuel situation, it seems probable that a demand for firewood in this form may be anticipated for many years to come and will provide a remunerative market for scrub and inferior timber which, in pre-war days, was practically unsaleable. The use of these outfits would be justified, even if the returns from the sale of the blocks showed only the smallest possible margin over the cost of conversion, as the inferior timber used for the purpose must be cut out in order to replant the ground with trees of a more valuable kind. Most of the firewood blocks turned out find a ready local trade, both for domestic use and for the firing of threshing engines. In some cases, where the local demand is not sufficient, the blocks are advertised for sale whenever a sufficient quantity has been accumulated, and are sold to the highest bidder subject, of course, to any limitations imposed by the maximum prices Orders. There has been a reduction in the provision under this heading, as the Forestry Division has now an adequate number of machines on hand for some time to come.
Sub-head D—Grants for Afforestation Purposes, £1,000. Applications for the grant of £10 an acre which, under certain conditions, the Department is prepared to pay to assist private owners to undertake the planting of trees on their own lands, continue to be received in increasing numbers, but no increase in the provision for the payment of these grants is likely to be required this year. Very little publicity has been given to this scheme in view of the difficulties which, unfortunately, still exist regarding supplies both of plants and of fencing materials, but when conditions return to normal this will be remedied, and I hope to see, not merely the replacement of woods cut down during the war, but a considerable extension of the woodlands and groves of trees on private lands. From the scenic point of view, more can be done in this way to improve the amenities of the country than can ever be achieved by the planting of large areas of mountain land by the State.
Sub-head E (2)—Exhibits at Shows, £75. In the main the provision now asked for is to defray the cost of a forestry exhibit at the forthcoming Spring Show of the Royal Dublin Society. This is a resumption of a pre-war practice and provides a valuable means of bringing to the notice of the public the regulations in regard to tree felling, the details of the grants payable etc. Smaller exhibits may also be provided at other agricultural shows throughout the country.
Sub-head H.—Appropriations-in-Aid, £46,140. It will be observed that a fall of £17,000 is anticipated in the revenue accounted for under this heading. This is due almost entirely to the fact that, as a result of the heavy fellings of both commercial and firewood timber for the past five or six years, the woods have been so cut over that quantities remaining for sale are both small in size, inferior in quality and in many cases difficult of access. Such a decrease had been expected last year but, in view of the desirability of getting to the market as much timber of building quality as possible, a number of additional lots were put up for sale which otherwise would have been held over till this year.
During the past year, about 73 large lots of timber, comprising 59,408 trees, were advertised for sale and 51 smaller lots comprising 4,992 trees. Seventeen lots of poles totalling 26,394 were also sold by auction. Approximately 3,500 tons of firewood mainly in the form of blocks were sold by public advertisement in addition to about 5,500 tons sold locally in one or two cord lots.
The number of felling notices received last year shows a slight decrease as compared with the previous year but is still considered higher than the pre-war average. This position is likely to continue so long as the woodworking industries have to rely in the main on imported timber and so far as information on the point has reached the Forestry Division it seems unlikely that imported timber will be available in the near future in quantities sufficient to meet the demands of the building industry alone.
Reports of breaches of the regulations in regard to tree-felling continue to be received, but in decreasing numbers and there appears to be a more general appreciation of the fact that the plea that timber is urgently required for one purpose or another does not justify indiscriminate felling.
I mentioned last year that, in view of the shortage of plants and fencing materials, persons who found it impossible to carry out replanting conditions imposed upon them as a condition of consent to the felling of trees on their lands would be granted any reasonable extension of time, in order to allow them to carry out their obligations. Though the situation has eased slightly in the meantime, supplies are still both scarce and dear, and I am, therefore, prepared to renew the offer made last year. I must, however, repeat again that postponement does not mean abandonment, and that eventually failure to carry out an undertaking to replant will be followed by prosecution. That is the whole account of forestry for the year and in view of the fact that the Dáil has discussed the Forestry Bill recently before the House I do not anticipate a long discussion now.
