The Government recognises the importance of forestry and we are committed to assisting its development into the future.

It is estimated that, by 2020, there will be over 820,000ha of forestry in Ireland – over 12% of total land area.

All of us involved in Ireland’s forestry and forest products industry realise how much the sector has grown and developed over the last few decades, and the significant potential it still has. The sector generates approximately €2.3bn in annual output and supports thousands of jobs in establishment, harvesting, transport, sawmilling, processing and renewable energy. It is, without a doubt, one of the success stories within our economy and the industry is well positioned to continue to make a substantial contribution to Ireland’s economic recovery.

Significant State investment has been a feature of the forestry sector since the 1980s. The Government recognises the importance of the sector to the economy and we are committed to assisting its development into the future. For the last number of years, the State support has made funding available, through the afforestation programme, to facilitate planting of up to 7,000ha each year.

Timber is the raw material for our sawmills and processors and there are indications that strong potential exists for continued growth in Ireland’s forest sector. The conference earlier this year, organised by the Wood Marketing Federation and the Society of Irish Foresters with support from the Irish Farmers Journal, on the theme “What shall we do with the timber?” focused on this.

A few key figures illustrate this potential. Domestic demand for wood is predicted to increase by 40% between 2014 and 2020. On the export front, Ireland’s share of the British timber market increased from 3.37% in 2007 to 6.52% in 2012, while over 89% of the output from the panelboard sector is exported, along with almost 60% of Irish sawmill output.

There is also potential for growth in the domestic wood for energy market, as domestic demand for forest biomass is expected to increase by over 70% between 2014 and 2020. With the advent of new EU targets for renewables post-2020, Ireland needs to continue its investment in forestry to meet the growing demand for forestry biomass in the combined and heat power (CHP), co-firing and domestic energy sector.

Forestry has an equally important role to play in helping to achieve our international emission reduction target by substantially reducing the amount of carbon credits that Ireland may need to offset this shortfall. In financial terms, this could be significant. A recent study showed that the total amount of carbon sequestered (including harvested wood products) would average 5.3m tonnes per annum over the period from 2021 to 2030.

It is a vital period for forestry and what we do now will determine how, and how successfully, the industry will address the challenges and avail of the opportunities that will present themselves in the years ahead. A fundamental requirement for our forest industry is a continuous supply of good quality timber.

It is against this background that, in recent weeks, I announced details of the proposed new Forestry Programme covering the period 2014 to 2020.

The proposed programme has been released for public consultation, alongside an environmental report on the new plan for forestry. The consultation exercise follows an earlier consultation process that included bilateral meetings with stakeholders and representative groups involved in forestry. I am appreciative of the co-operation by all who gave their time and expertise to the process. The consultation period runs until 13 October and after that process, the final programme will be submitted to the European Commission for approval.

The proposed programme consists of 11 measures with increased grant and premium rates for new afforestation projects. These measures aim to increase forest cover and generate additional supplies of timber and wood biomass to meet the projected increase in demand from the wood processing and renewable energy sectors.

Forest road scheme

Of particular interest to existing forest owners is that there are a number of changes also proposed to the forest road scheme in terms of the area of eligibility and the timing of payments. A grant of up to €5,000 is proposed for special construction works and support for connecting to existing forest road networks. The former will be targeted at applications falling within Natura 2000 sites and other environmentally sensitive areas to encourage the building of infrastructure that will help minimise any adverse effects on water quality that might arise from harvesting.

One of the objectives of the proposed programme is the establishment of over 46,000ha of new forests during its lifetime. In addition, it is planned to support the construction of 960km of forest roads and to provide improved levels of support for the establishment and conservation of native woodlands.

It is estimated that, by 2020, there will be over 820,000ha of forestry in Ireland, representing 12% of the total land area. Over 50% will be privately owned, potentially contributing 1.5 million cubic metres of timber production per annum. Achieving these targets is very much dependent on landowners managing and harvesting existing farm forestry. Appropriate forest management and harvesting requires specialised knowledge, just like any other rural enterprise.

There are various sources of advice and information for forest owners who want to learn more about managing their forests and selling their timber. Support for such advisory and development services will continue to be provided under the new proposals.

There are other important policy initiatives under way also. Last July, I launched the final report and recommendations of the Forest Policy Review Group, entitled Forests, Products and People. The review contains over 100 recommendations and represents a consensus view among a range of forest sector stakeholders. It has been considered in formulating the new national forestry programme and analysis of its other recommendations is ongoing.

In addition to this, Dáil Éireann recently completed its consideration of the Forestry Bill 2013. The bill has now been referred to Seanad Éireann for its consideration. The purpose of the bill is to reform and update the legislative framework relating to forestry in order to support the development of a modern forestry sector. A lot of consultation and effort has gone into the framing of the new legislation to reflect the developments in the years since the current forestry legislation was enacted in 1946.

I would like to thank all of the industry representatives, farm organisations, foresters and growers who have taken part in the consultative processes for their views and expert input and for the time that they committed to the process.

I am impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment to developing our forestry industry displayed by the many organisations and individuals that I have met since taking over as Minister of State with responsibility for forestry. I hope that the new forestry programme will encourage many more landowners to consider forestry as a viable land use option and I was pleased by the interest shown by the farmers that I was fortunate enough to meet during my visit to the National Ploughing Championships last week.

I believe that the forestry sector has enormous potential for the future in terms of the economic, environmental, climate change, recreation and tourism benefits that it can deliver. Planting forestry might not be appropriate for every landowner or every farm, but I would encourage landowners and farmers to investigate the possibilities for themselves by talking to a Teagasc adviser or to any registered forester.