The Department of Agriculture is considering introducing fees for applications for forestry licences, the Irish Farmers Journal has learned.

This would mean a fee for licences for afforestation, tree felling, forest roads and aerial fertilisation. Currently, there are no fees for such licence applications.

The Department is already considering introducing fees for appeals of decisions of the Department to the forestry appeals committee.

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Planting trees is only the beginning

The minister who will oversee any introduction of these fees will be Minister of State Pippa Hackett. Last week, then-Minister for Agriculture Barry Cowen announced that Minister Hackett would take responsibility for the forestry sector in her brief.

Benefits

She said the sector “can deliver even more environmental economic, and social and amenity benefits for Irish society in the coming years” following a meeting with Coillte last week.

“Planting trees is only the beginning of the multi-functional benefits which forestry can offer and the downstream benefits must be a key part of our future climate and biodiversity planning,” she said.