Mattie McGrath: Claims Felling Licences Favour Queen's Over Farmers
Deputy Mattie McGrath challenged the allocation of forestry felling licences, saying Queen's received a disproportionate share while farmers and private landowners faced delays. He cited licence targets and afforestation shortfalls; a departmental representative replied with staffing increases and record licensing figures for 2021.
Allegations of unfair licence allocations
Deputy McGrath said the system was not functioning fairly for all applicants, arguing that Queen's appeared to have no problem getting licences while ordinary farmers and business people invested in afforestation were delayed. He referenced figures in the DFM Forestry Licensing Plan 2022, saying Queen's were receiving 135% of DFM targets while farmers and private landowners received about 80% of their target licences, and afforestation was at 54% of its targets.
Departmental response and staffing
Mr Chambers responded that the Department had invested in resources, recruiting more ecologists, forestry inspectors and additional administrative staff assigned to licensing. He said a team of 35 ecologists was recruited specifically to deal with licensing and defended the increased output.
Licensing outputs and volumes in 2021
The representative said licensing in 2021 was 56% higher than in 2020, with 4,050 licences issued compared to 2,592 in 2020. He said 2,877 felling licences were issued in 2021, 1,532 of which were for Quilter, and that the timber volume issued was nearly 8.5 million cubic metres - the highest volume ever issued in a single year.
Infrastructure and afforestation figures
Mr Chambers noted 264 kilometres of forest roads were licensed in 2021, more than double the Climate Action Plan 2019 target. He said the number of afforestation licences remained static, with approximately 4,000 hectares of planning approved in 2021. The exchange highlighted competing concerns about licence distribution and the Department's focus on increasing throughput.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I hear nothing wrong with the felling licence situation within the Department of Agriculture and Forestry. The number of licences being issued to Queen's, there's 135% of DFM targets, numbers outlined in their own DFM Forestry Licensing Plan 2022. Farmers and private landowners, however, have only received 80% of their target number of licences in the same period, and the forestation is only at 54% of its targets. The system is not functioning fairly for all applicants, and Queen's does seem to have no problem getting the licences, but ordinary farmers or ordinary business people who are invested in forestation cannot get the licences. Can Minister McConnell explain how the Queen's are getting so much, 125% of their applications over the line, this year alone, not to mention the previous years, and ordinary applicants, put it that way, farmers or business people, or whomever, are delayed, and their prevarication, and there's all kinds of... Thank you very much, Mr Chambers. Obviously, you can put it in their desk. Mr Chambers. Thank you, Deputy McGrath. Just to say, there's been huge investment in resources in the Department with more ecologists, forestry inspectors, and additional administrative staff assigned to licencing. A team of 35 ecologists has been recruited to deal with the licencing specifically. Licensing in 2021 was 56% higher than 2020, with 4,050 licences issued compared to 2,592 in 2020. In terms of improved output, 2,877 felling licences were issued last year, 1,532 of which were for Quilter. Critically, the availability of this volume of timber at nearly 8.5 million cubic metres stabilised supply to the processing sector in 2021, and this is the highest volume ever issued in a single year. 264 kilometres of forest roads were licenced in 2021, more than double the target in the Climate Action Plan of 2019. That's also the highest ever volume of forest roads issued in a single year. The number of afferestation licences remained static, with approximately 4,000 hectares of planning approved in 2021. The number of afferestation licences remained static, with heavy types of marty rock. Let's look at the tomat of the
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
