Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 November 2021
351. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department will commit to providing a written plan for the next 12 months that commits to baseline levels of licensing and inroads into the backlog in forestry licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56749/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, both myself and Minister Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, have committed to dealing with the backlog in licensing through the Project Woodland initiative launched earlier this year.
We have invested heavily in resources and operational efficiencies in order to improve output and this is having the desired effect with licence output averaging 113 licences per week in each of the last eight weeks to 12th November.
We are aiming also to have a better mix of licences within that output as I am particularly concerned that afforestation is not enjoying the benefits of other types of licensing.
We hope to sustain and improve on this output and the Department will be producing an updated projection for the issuing of forestry licences in 2022 by end-2021 for communication to all stakeholders.
