Appeals against all types of forestry continue to be a major issue, with a 35% rise in the number of appeals last year.

A change in legislation last October now means that the main Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) has been split into four sub-committees, with the almost immediate effect of being able to go from hearing 24 to 60 appeals per month.

However, for many farmers and forestry owners, the situation is at breaking point.

“I am assured that the office is making every effort to deal with the backlog of both forestry and agriculture appeals,” Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue told TD John McGuinness in response to a parliamentary question.

But the backlog is still sizeable and in another parliamentary question from TD Éamon Ó Cuív it was revealed that 353 licences had been appealed since October last year. These included 189 felling licences, 90 afforestation licences and 74 licences for forest roads.