'Funding in place to achieve viable forestry programme in 2011' - Connick

When Sean Connick was appointed Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries and forestry last March he knew that managing this portfolio would require a careful balancing act if he was to avoid falling between the forest and the deep blue sea. A native of New Ross, he was fully aware of the challenges facing the Irish fishing industry but many of the issues concerning forestry were new to him.

Wexford could be summed up as a maritime and agriculture county rather than a forestry county. Despite his knowledge of forestry in Wexford - he is a regular visitor to forests in the county and strong supporter of providing better access - he was unaware of many of the problems that faced him nationally.

A number of forest fires were raging around the country to begin with, but, while these were extinguished within days, the volatile issue of funding, or lack of funding, for forestry would take much longer to solve. ''Just as I was coming to terms with my brief, the capital review was published which, if implemented, would wipe out the afforestation programme,'' he says. ''Set at €89 million, it would reduce annual planting from 10,000ha, as promised in the Programme for Government, to 2,000ha at best.''

He received a baptism of fire from the various forestry stakeholders, as 'lobbying was intense', he admits. ''The capital review was discussed at parliamentary party level and I also made the case to the Minister for Finance but, despite an encouraging response, an increase in the allocation to forestry looked like reaching €100 million at best, which was insufficient.''

Discussions carried on throughout the year while he was also negotiating in Brussels to maximise fish quotas for the Irish fishing fleet as part of his fisheries brief.

December was the month that it all came together for Minister Connick. He returned from Brussels with fishing quotas worth €223m, while on the home front he secured an allocation for forestry of €114 million, which ''was as much and more than I could have realistically expected, given the state of the economy,'' he says. ''It is sufficient to provide an afforestation programme of up to 8,000ha with enough funding for back-up measures, especially roading.'' While he was preoccupied with funding issues for much of 2010, he says that forestry 'was a real interesting sector and an eye opener for me'. Coming from a business background, he was delighted to see excellent performances by the Irish timber processors and the developing wood energy sector. ''Sawmills and panel board plants were exporting to Europe and beyond, while growers were increasing the availability of timber,'' although he concedes that this needs further improvement.

He pays tribute to the Department staff in Johnstown Castle outside Wexford especially during the outbreak of the larch disease. ''Caused by the pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum, it killed larch trees in a number of forests and, in some cases, spread to nearby species,'' he says. ''We set up an action plan which included monitoring the disease throughout Ireland. We identified seven areas where larch was infected and had excellent co-operation from Minister Tony Killeen in the Department of Defence. Air Corps helicopters were provided to carry out an aerial survey.''

The infected areas are currently being cleared to minimise the spread of the disease.

''The vigilance of the Forest Service staff ensures that Ireland has the healthiest and best protected forests in Europe but the outbreak of P. ramorum proves that we cannot take this for granted,'' the Minister claims.

''When I was appointed I also witnessed at first hand the devastation caused by forest fires,'' he says. ''We need to get the message out on the need for vigilance especially during the fire danger period from February to May.'' It is estimated that 1,500ha of forests were burned in 2010, divided almost equally between Coillte and private plantations.

While the budgetary allocation and the performance of the wood processing sector are highlights of the year, the minister admits that the period was too short to develop a comprehensive long-term programme for the sector. He would have wished to see the forestry review published during his term to provide detail and targets which, he claims, were lacking in Food Harvest 2020, positive though it was about forestry.

He believes that arguments for forestry funding have been accepted in relation to afforestation, timber processing and employment potential.

However, he says that other arguments need to be made about benefits such as carbon sequestration, which needs to be acknowledged. ''When I made my submission to Finance last year I presented the arguments in relation to carbon sequestration which saves the Exchequer over €40 million annually. I would have liked to add in other savings and income, such as a contribution from Coillte for example.''

Asked about the McCarthy Report on possible privatisation of Coillte, the Minister said he would be opposed to the sale of the State company and emphasised that no discussions had taken place on this issue at Cabinet level or with Coillte. ''I would be genuinely disappointed if a future government decided to sell Coillte off. I am impressed with the company's performance but I see room for further development, not just in its existing business divisions but also in tourism,'' he says. ''When you look at its forests and land mass - almost 7% of the land area of Ireland - Coillte has huge potential to develop major eco-friendly tourist centres in addition to existing businesses.

''I have visited the company's woodland and forest parks, such as Belleek, Donadea and Lough Key, which are major community and tourist attractions.''

He sums up the year as an interesting and deeply rewarding period in his political life.

''Despite constraints in spending, we achieved a planting programme of 8,300ha, the largest area since 2005,'' he claims.

''My aim when appointed was to leave forestry in good health when my term ended and I think I have achieved this. As well, the funding is in place to achieve a viable forestry programme in 2011.''