Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 December 2021
643. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the breakdown of afforestation licences, private felling licences and Coillte felling licences issued since the end of January 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59783/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraTo end-November, the Department has issued 3,654 forestry licences, including afforestation, felling and forest road licences, this year. This is an increase of 57% on what was issued to the same point last year.
In that time, 468 afforestation licences have issued for 3,881ha. For tree felling licences a total of 1,208 have issued to private landowners and 1,378 to Coillte, (15,688ha and 11,103ha respectively).
The Department publishes a range of forestry licence statistics both on its website and weekly in the Forestry Dashboard.
There has been an increase in licences issued in recent months, with on average 116 licences per week issuing over 13 weeks to 26th November, 2021. This has reflected a greater output of felling licences with slower progress in issuing afforestation licences. Efficiencies that have been in place for some months for tree felling and forest road licence processing are now being applied to afforestation licences.
I would like to reiterate my commitment and that of Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, in ensuring that we maintain and improve on our licence delivery for the benefit of the sector and for society as a whole.
