Departmental Expenditure

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 February 2024

• Debates
• Find a debate
  • Dáil debates
  • Seanad debates
  • Committee debates
• Find a vote
  • Dáil votes
  • Seanad votes
  • Committee votes
• Parliamentary questions
  • Written questions
  • Oral questions
• Search tips
• Utterances having an adverse effect

Tuesday, 20 February 2024

Questions (446)

Seán Sherlock

Question:

446. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the annual cost of running the forestry division of his Department including outsourced ecology each year since 2010, in tabular form; if he will provide a list of the area of afforestation planted in each of those years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7490/24]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

As the information requested extends over a period of 13 years, all the data requested is not readily available. A response will therefore issue directly to the Deputy within 10 days.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51.

The table below provides an overview on the yearly pay costs, based on the midpoints of individual salary scales, including travel and subsistence and overtime, of the three forestry divisions in my Department for the years in question. The figures represent a snapshot of the staffing complement in each of the years. For the years 2010 to 2017 inclusive there were two forestry divisions in my Department – Forestry Division and Forestry Inspectorate. Forest Sector Development (FSD) was created in 2018.

Please note also that staff across the three divisions are involved in all aspects of the forestry remit including licensing, promotion, forest health, payments, engagement at National, EU and international level on forestry policy issues and forest sector development. Changes in regulatory requirements in relation to forestry licensing has necessitated an increase in resources.

Year	Cost of Salaries, Travel and Subsistence and Overtime	Total Area Planted	Outsourced Ecology Spend
2010	€5,559,509	8,314	€0.00
2011	€5,429,893	6,653	€0.00
2012	€5,540,621	6,652	€0.00
2013	€5,334,288	6,252	€0.00
2014	€5,165,441	6,156	€0.00
2015	€5,453,280	6,293	€0.00
2016	€5,559,480	6,500	€0.00
2017	€5,546,028	5,536	€0.00
2018	€5,798,222	4,025	€492
2019	€6,252,054	3,550	€16,296
2020	€7,159,347	2,434	€407,464
2021	€7,961,903	2,016	€1,571,627
2022	€8,883,443	2,273	€2,243,148
2023	€10,142,066	1,651	€2,055,670

• Previous Answer
• Next Answer