Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 January 2023
802. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department is not accepting any forest grant applications as of 1 January 2023, if it is also not issuing any grant approvals from the same date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4750/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 replaces the previous Forestry Programme of 2014-2020 (extended to 2022) which expired at the end of 2022. The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 was created in alignment with Ireland’s new draft Forest Strategy and as such, is designed to provide lasting benefits for many key areas including as climate change, biodiversity, wood production, employment alongside enhancing societal benefits.
Currently, the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 is subject to an ongoing Strategic Environmental Assessment/Appropriate Assessment (SEA/AA) process. Within this process, the draft Forest Strategy Implementation plan, containing the Forestry Programme was published on the 18 October 2022 for a six-week period of public consultation. My Department is currently collating and integrating feedback from more than 150 submissions on the Forest Strategy Implementation Plan. The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 also requires State Aid to implement and the SEA/AA process is a critical step in the process of securing State Aid approval.
The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 is also being assessed at this time by the European Commission under the State Aid Guidelines in the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas. These State Aid Guidelines expired on 31 December 2022 and were replaced with a revised version as of 1st of January 2023. The revision of these guidelines meant that a formal application for State Aid could not have been submitted to the European Commission until these revised guidelines were in place, i.e. before January 2023. Cognisant of the importance of implementing the new Forestry Programme as early as possible in 2023, and of the constraint that we could not submit a formal application for State Aid in 2022, my Department secured the agreement of the European Commission to facilitate a pre-notification in November 2022.
As the prior Forestry Programme has expired, grant aided applications can not be accepted or issued under this framework. The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 is currently undergoing State Aid assessment, as well as an ongoing SEA/AA process. Therefore to accept any applications for Grant Aid at this time would be in breach of State Aid Rules. A key principle of State Aid approval is that such aid must have an "incentive effect" for the applicant.
An incentive effect is present when the aid changes the behaviour of an undertaking, such as additional activity contributing to the development of the sector, where it would not have taken place without such aid or where in its absence the activity would have transpired in a restricted or different manner. My Department as the Granting Authority in this instance, must ensure that any State Aid provided does not subsidise the costs of an activity or undertaking that would have incurred in any instance and must not compensate for the normal business risk of an economic activity. State Aid shall only be deemed allowable once an application has been made before the activity or undertaking has commenced, with clear knowledge of the Stated aided Programme.
However, I am acutely aware of the urgency with which planting and roading activity must take place, given both our ambitious targets and the need to ensure an active pipeline of work for the sector. In this light, my Department has worked intensively with the European Commission to pursue transitional arrangements for the use of valid Forestry Scheme approvals from January 2023.
My Department has put in place an Interim Afforestation Scheme and an Interim Forest Road Scheme to provide an option of immediate planting and/or roading from January 2023 for those with existing valid approvals. A circular on these arrangements issued to the sector on 22 December 2022. To date we have granted 102 afforestation applications representing 672 hectares and 23 road applications under the De Minimis Schemes.
In terms of afforestation and road applications which were applied for before31st December, 2022 we are continuing to process these so that they may be transitioned into the new Programme when it opens and approval may be granted at that stage.
I assure you that the launch of the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 is a matter of the utmost priority. My Department is actively engaging with the Commission, and our officials are working extensively to secure full State Aid Approval as soon as possible.
