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Departmental Reports

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 March 2022

Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Ceisteanna (1135)

Matt Carthy

Ceist:

1135. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the 21 recommendations from the Mackinnon report of November 2019 that have been implemented; the status of those which have not; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14265/22]

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Freagraí scríofa

Implementation of the Mackinnon report is well underway through Project Woodland, which was established by, Minister of State Pippa Hackett, a year ago to improve the licensing system and deal with the backlog, and to drive forward the planting of trees under a shared vision for forestry in Ireland. I am pleased to report that significant progress has been made.

All recommendations are actively in progress, with some completed, and I attach a table with a detailed update on each., I will take this opportunity to summarise progress on specific items.

Significantly an end-to-end review of the licensing process has been completed and recommendations arising from that review have moved to the implementation stage. The draft regulatory review of the existing statutory framework for the licensing of forestry activities was presented to the Project Board recently and it is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks.

A pre-application discussion pilot for afforestation applications is in place since January, and we are currently seeking quotes for a training needs analysis focussed on the licensing system.

The forestry licensing plan for 2022 details a range of forestry priorities for 2022, the delivery of which will reduce the backlog. The consultation on the new Forestry Strategy is underway, with a public attitudes survey and a community engagement survey already completed while bilateral engagement with key stakeholders is well under way and an online public consultation opened on 16th March. A deliberative dialogue is planned for May.

A more detailed update on progress under each of the Mackinnon recommendations is contained in the attached table.

Mackinnon Report

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