Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 July 2024
303. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress to date in expediting the processing and approval of applications for planting and felling forestry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30822/24]
View answerMy Department published a Forestry Licensing Plan in December 2023 which outlines our strong commitment to issuing licences in 2024. The Plan estimates that we will issue 4,200 new forestry licences of all types in 2024, which includes 1,000 afforestation licences. This is however contingent on receiving enough applications to achieve this goal. We are working towards the priorities outlined in the Plan and we are committed to reducing turn around times for all schemes to six months for screen out files and nine months for files screened in for appropriate assessment.
All applications go through a very rigorous assessment process to ensure that all environmental obligations are fully complied with. Over the last three years my Department has invested significantly in additional resources to address the increased complexity of licensing applications which has resulted from more stringent environmental requirements. These included investments in additional forestry inspectors, ecologist and administrative staff. We have also implemented changes to our systems and processes on foot of the recommendations contained in an independent end-to-end Systems and Processes Analysis.
My Department publishes details of all licences issued on the Departments weekly Forestry Dashboard which can be found here: gov - 2024 Forestry Weekly Dashboard (www.gov.ie). We have issued 1,708 licences this year, covering roads, felling and afforestation. More roads and private felling licences were issued than received, and the Coillte felling applications on hand refer to the 2026 harvesting programme. At present, there are approximately 4,273 hectares approved and available to plant through the Afforestation and Native Tree Area Schemes, of which my Department has received notifications of the intention to plant for 1,802 hectares. In addition, some 808 hectares have been planted and paid for to date in 2024, with applications for payment being submitted and paid on a weekly basis.
