The Department of Agriculture has agreed the payment of an environmental grant “if a report from an external ecologist or archaeologist is submitted and on file on afforestation files paid in 2022”.

The Department circular, issued to registered foresters, explains that the payment is “an interim measure” to be approved “at Form 2 stage as part of the Afforestation (Development) Grant”.

The amount of grant aid is weighted to compensate for small areas – planted up to 3ha in particular – where it varies between €350/ha and €450/ha (Table 1).

Thereafter it drops to €50/ha while the cumulative grant increases from €450/ha for the initial ha to €2,050 for 20ha which is the maximum grant paid out.

“For files already paid in 2022 a supplementary payment will be made for files where an environmental report was submitted,” the circular states.

The Department can be contacted by email (1stgrant@agriculture.gov.ie) if foresters need clarification on the grant process.