An Taisce received over €23,00 from the Department of Agriculture in 2020.

The money helped to fund the Green Schools Biodiversity Initiative, the annual accounts for the National Trust of Ireland have shown.

In total, An Taisce received over €2.9m from a variety of Government departments in 2020. Over half came from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, with €1,577,000 for the Green Schools Travel programme.

Other large funding bursaries included €323,000 for the Clean Coasts Core programme from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, and €225,000 for the National Spring Clean from the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Environment.

Irish Water handed over €190,000 for the Green Schools Water programme

A further €216,00 from the same department was for the Green Schools Climate Action programme.

In addition, An Taisce received funding from a number of Government agencies. Irish Water handed over €190,000 for the Green Schools Water programme, with over €145,000 from local authorities nationwide for the Green Schools Core programme.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Rethink Ireland and the Environmental Protection Agency also assisted An Taisce’s programmes with funding.

The total income of An Taisce in 2020 was €4.587m, of which over €4.1m came from charitable activities, the majority from State funding, while a further €443,000 came from donations and legacies.

It imposed fees on anyone wishing to make a submission on a forestry licence application, in addition to fees to take an appeal

In the associated annual report, An Taisce stated the following in relation to the Forestry Bill: “It imposed fees on anyone wishing to make a submission on a forestry licence application, in addition to fees to take an appeal. In essence, it would act as a disincentive for the public and eNGOs to challenge problematic applications and decisions on foot of those applications, as opposed to addressing root cause of the problem, which is a failure of the Forest Service to make legally compliant decisions.”