Seán Sherlock
Ceist:74. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied that Project Woodland is delivering on its mandate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51630/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 21 October 2021
Ceisteanna (74)
Freagraí scríofa
I am pleased to report that substantial work has been undertaken by all Working Groups and the Project Board of Project Woodland, with regular meetings held resulting in a high level of output in both terms of quality and quantity. The Project Board, published its first Interim Report in July and is due to shortly produce its second interim report for October in the next week.
The Board have advanced some immediate priorities and agreed to advance two Working Group recommendations immediately: an external regulatory review and the conducting of a public consultation process on the new Forest Strategy.
My Department has selected a preferred bidder with legal and environmental expertise to carry out an in-depth review of the forestry licensing system. It will review the existing statutory framework for the licensing of forestry activities in relation to environmental and public participation obligations in order that practical advice can be provided to the Department on how to work more efficiently within the existing legal framework.
A significant aspect of Project Woodland’s work is to develop a new national vision for Irish forestry. Already the collaborative efforts of sector stakeholders, NGOs, environmental representatives and state actors is showing significant progress on this and a public consultation exercise has begun, with a study on Community Engagement on Forestry and Woodlands underway, a tender issued for the Strategic Environmental Analysis/Appropriate Assessment process and quotes sought for external consultants to conduct an omnibus survey of public attitudes to trees, woods and woodland. A tender will issue in the coming weeks for a public survey on the vision for forestry to 2050. Furthermore later this year and into 2022 bi-lateral stakeholder meetings will be held, deliberative dialogue will be undertaken in the form of a national event, a Youth Forum will be convened and a National Stakeholder event will be scheduled.
In addition, an independent Systems Analyst is conducting an end-to-end process review with a view to licensing process improvement and an interim report on this work will be submitted to the Project Board in the near future.
There has been significant work carried out on all other aspects of Project Woodland too and updates on these be will contained in the second interim report of the Project Board which will issue shortly. These include:
- A pilot project for pre-application discussions.
- Payment of an Environmental Planning Grant.
- A new Customer Charter for forestry.
- A Communication Plan that assists my Department in conveying the multi-functional benefits of forestry.
- A review of the organisational structure of forestry within my Department.
- Commission of a Training Needs analysis.
- Definition of the backlog and associated dashboards.
- Actions relating to reduction of the backlog.
In conclusion, I would like to recognise the momentum and progress made under Project Woodland and I acknowledge the hard work and commitment shown by all involved, in particular the representatives from the Forestry Policy Group.
Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, I am committed to the success of this Project and by continuing to work together I believe we can deliver on its ambitions for the benefit of the forestry sector and society at large.