asked the Minister for Lands if he will state the total capital expenditure on the establishment of all State forests to date, not including Appropriations-in-Aid, and the estimated present-day value of our State's forests and the total proceeds to date of sales of timber of all kinds.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Afforestation.
I am not clear as to what is meant by capital expenditure. The gross expenditure on forestry (including allied services) up to the 31st March, 1952, and excluding (1) the balance on hands of £26,238 in Land Acquisition (Grant-in-Aid) Fund on that date and (2) expenditure on grants to private persons and public bodies amounted to £7,528,733. Separate figures for receipts from sales of timber are not readily available but the receipts from Appropriations-in-Aid under all heads to the 31st March, 1952, amounted to £1,384,552. No reliable estimate of present-day value of the State forests is available.
I merely wanted an approximate figure and I am sure theMinister could get that from the Department. There must be an approximate figure somewhere of the value of the forests and properties they have on hands.
I regret to say it is not possible to give such a figure. The matter has received some attention. We have not the staff and, as the Deputy is probably aware, we are not able to set aside a special staff for the purpose of dealing with the task of valuing all the existing plantations. Nobody can tell what the value of timber will be in 30 years or 40 years' time. It seems to me that the precedent established in Britain of taking the amount of money spent as the basis of estimates or calculations is probably the most serviceable one to follow but the matter is not being lost sight of.
asked the Minister for Lands if he will state the tonnage of thinnings purchased by a firm in County Kildare during each of the last three years and the quantity purchased during the last six months.
My Department makes no direct sales of thinnings to Messrs. Athy Wallboard Limited. The following are figures of tonnages of timber sold to the main agents of that firm.
|
tons |
|
|
Year ended 31st March, 1951 |
58 |
|
Year ended 31st March, 1952 |
5,047 |
|
From 1st April, 1952/20th Feb. 1953 |
4,423 |
During the period of approximately five months from the 30th September, 1952 to 20th February, 1953, 2,044 tons were supplied.
In addition to the above, large quantities of thinnings put on the market by the Department would have reached Messrs. Athy Wallboard through other channels. Particulars of the quantities of such material reaching the firm are not available but my information is that the quantity has decreased in recent months.
Could the Minister give any indication as to why thepurchases by Messrs. Wallboard have decreased?
That decrease is said to be due to stocking up in the first place. I understand there has been a stockpile in the industry over the past few years. That is one reason for the decrease. The other reason is that business has possibly decreased due to some decline in building activity. I cannot say that these are the reasons for the lower purchases but they are the reasons that have been given to me.
Could the Minister reassure us that there is no restriction on the supply available to Athy Wallboard Limited, inasmuch as I understood that it was the intention of that concern to use raw material there for the production of a product part of which, at least, could be exported?
As a matter of fact, the Forestry Division would be very glad to have demands from the Irish paper mills and the wallboard factory for timber at the present time. We are accumulating heavy stocks of thinnings which we are not in a position to dispose of.
asked the Minister for Lands if he will state the weight of tree seeds planted in the forest nurseries in the spring of 1952 and the estimated weight intended to be planted this spring.
The weight of tree seeds planted in 1952 was 3,722 lb. of conifers and 850 lb. of hardwoods. Estimated sowings for this year are 3,000 lb. of conifers and 5,000 lb. of hardwoods.
asked the Minister for Lands when his Department proposes to start forestry operations on the lands formerly owned by Mr. John Syron, Triesta, Boughadoon, Ballina, County Mayo.
Formal possession of these lands was taken during the present week. Programmes of work for the area have not yet been arranged.
asked the Minister for Lands if he will state (a) the acreage acquired by the Forestry Division from 1st January, 1952, to 1st January, 1953, and the estimated plantable area of the total; (b) the area on offer awaiting inspection, and (c) the area for which firm offers have been made.
The area of land acquired by my Department during the year ending 31st December, 1952, was 15,125 acres, of which 13,792 acres were plantable. The total area on offer at present and not yet inspected is 47,300 acres, and the area for which offers had been made, but not yet accepted by the 31st December last (the latest convenient date), was 37,320 acres.
asked the Minister for Lands if he will state the number of healthy transplants one year, two years and three years old in the Forestry Division nurseries at the autumn count last harvest.
The following is the information required:—
|
Conifer transplants: |
|
|
2 years old |
19,770,000 |
|
3 years old |
9,732,000 |
|
4 years old and over |
9,027,000 |
|
Total |
38,529,000 |
|
Hardwood transplants |
|
|
2 years old |
3,633,000 |
|
3 years old |
533,000 |
|
4 years old and over |
406,000 |
|
Total |
4,572,000 |
asked the Minister for Lands whether he will have the possibility of embarking on a large scale forestry planting programme in the Kiltullagh Electoral Division and adjoining areas, County Roscommon, investigated.
The nearest forest to the Electoral Division of Kiltullagh, County Roscommon, is Ballinlough forest where it is proposed to plant 125 acres this season. It is not practicable to undertake planting operations on a larger scale here in the next few years unless additional areas of suitable land in the district are acquired.
Would the Minister recommend to the Forestry Division that they should acquire land in the Kiltullagh area because in that area and in the surrounding district there are approximately 4,000 acres of land ideal for afforestation?
There are no supplies of land in the Kiltullagh Electoral Division, and prospects of additions to Ballinlough forest itself are not regarded as good. If offers come in I can assure the Deputy the matter will be pursued.
Is it departmental policy that there must be supplies of land before any move will be made in the locality?
We have a certain limited number of inspectors and we want to make the best use we can of them. We do not want to send them on a fool's errand. We want to send them to places where there is a reasonable prospect of building up a substantial reserve. We have an inspector in Sligo but I do not know whether the area mentioned by the Deputy comes within his purview. If we get any line that we can go on we will, of course, pursue the matter.
Would I be right in saying that the foresters in charge solicit attractive offers or contact people in the locality with a view to getting land around the forest?
That is so.
asked the Minister for Lands if he will ensure that all pre-Truce I.R.A. men get first preference for employment in all forestry schemes throughout the country.
Preference where possible is given for subordinate employment in the Forestry Division of the Department of Lands, as I understand, in other Government Departments, to men who have rendered military service in the period 1916-1923 and who have been granted active or general service medals in common with certain other ex-members of the Defence Forces.