Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 January 2023
327. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the percentage of licences approved by his Department each year of the past forestry programme which were in breach of the 90-day timeline set out in the farmer's charter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3856/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraDue to improved output in forestry licencing this year, we have seen considerable reductions in the backlog of forestry licences and a year-on-year increase in the number of licences issued. Project Woodland Working Group 1 recommended that the backlog is defined as the number of forestry licence applications awaiting a decision over four months. This has reduced from 6,000 applications in August 2021, to 3,700 applications on hand at the start of 2022 to 1,983 on hand by the end of 2022.
As the Deputy may be aware the Farmer's Charter refers to approvals of valid afforestation and roads applications within 10 weeks, except where consultation is required under law; 14 to 18 weeks in these cases where practicable.
I am taking it that the Deputy is therefore referring to afforestation and road licences.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine's Forestry Programme, including the extension applied, ran from 2014 until 2022. Using a 90 day time period, I have set out the figures for afforestation and roads applications below, excluding applications withdrawn or refused.
Percentage of licences approved beyond 90 days.
|
Afforestation |
Roads |
|
|
2014 |
37% |
24% |
|
2015 |
38% |
37% |
|
2016 |
33% |
22% |
|
2017 |
39% |
41% |
|
2018 |
56% |
51% |
|
2019 |
60% |
51% |
|
2020 |
76% |
48% |
|
2021 |
85% |
91% |
|
2022 |
91% |
62% |
While the percentages have risen over time, this is a result of the backlog caused by decisions of the courts which greatly expanded the need for ecological reports. The Department has responded to these court decisions by expanding the resources and these are now bearing fruit with the number of afforestation and roads decisions made by the Department increasing steadily since 2020.
In 2022, the Department approved 4,713 forestry licences, including 702 afforestation and 718 roads licences. This is up on 2021 when we approved 4,018 forestry licences, including 502 afforestation and 671 roads licences.
Furthermore increased public consultation requirements impact on processing times and a timeline of around three to four months can no longer be considered reasonable in most cases. As for other planning authorities, there is public consultation process. Forestry licence applications are subject to an initial 30-days public consultation, during which submissions are accepted from interested parties. A further 30-day public consultation is undertaken if further environmental assessments are required.
We are committed to working through licences on hand and delivering for the forestry sector.
