Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022
917. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average length of time it took to process the Coillte felling licences issued by his Department since 1 January 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17745/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra918. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average length of time it took to process the private felling licences issued by his Department since 1 January 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17746/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 917 and 918 together.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine publishes extensive information on forestry licence and other forestry-related statistics on its website, including the weekly Forestry Dashboard available here gov.ie - Forest Statistics and Mapping (www.gov.ie).
The Forestry Licensing Plan for 2022 envisages a 36% increase in private tree felling licences at 1,830 while Coillte output will remain at the same level as 2021 at 1,530. It is worth noting that Coillte supply 75% of product to the sawmills.
The average length of time for Coillte felling licences to be issued during January, February and March 2022 is 11 months and for Private felling is 18 Months. The DAFM licensing plan commits to remove all (private) felling licences predating 2021 by end of the second quarter, as well as reducing the turnaround time for (private) license applications, this is being achieved through reassigning staff who have been working on Coillte felling files to processing private felling licence files, along with the recent recruitment of additional ecologist resources.
Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, my priority this year is to deliver on the ambition outlined in the Licencing Plan. This will have the effect of reducing the backlog and the time taken
