'One million square metres tied up in forestry appeals'

Failure by the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) to deal with appeals has led to the Agriculture Committee stepping in to keep pressure on the situation, according to Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard.

The move is unprecedented and indicative of the seriousness of the situation following the delay of planting, road and felling licences due to serial appeals from individuals.

Department of Agriculture figures show that felling nationwide has dropped by 70% since this time last year. Planting is also down considerably and the Government looks set to once again fail to meet its annual 8,000ha/year target, with just over 2,000ha planted to date.

Although the legislation around appealing of forestry applications has changed, with a fee now attached to appeals, Tim Lombard says there are still outstanding issues.

“There’s a million square metres tied up in appeals,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“Essentially, the committee needs to become a Public Accounts Committee to keep pressure on the FAC.

“The FAC need to start moving really fast to work through the backlog.”

Forestry has repeatedly been pointed to as an answer to capturing carbon and help mitigate emissions from other parts of the agriculture sector, but its ability in this role is doubtful if continued low planting continues.

It’s also understood that many forestry companies have now been forced to import timber from outside Ireland to keep sawmills operating, but loss of revenue and shortage of timber means some companies are being forced to consider dropping to a four-day week.