There are 5,959 forestry licences at the Department of Agriculture awaiting approval, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said.

Of this figure, 4,487 are felling licences, 899 are afforestation licences and 573 are roads licences. Farmers and foresters in Cork have the highest number of licences awaiting a decision with 523.

Cork is followed by Tipperary (493), Clare (430), Kerry (430), Galway (410) and Mayo (328).

Minister McConalogue said that the Department of Agriculture is committed to issuing 4,500 forestry licences this year, which is an increase of 75% on 2020.

“To 30 June, over 39% of that target has issued, with 105 licences issuing last week, including 67 private tree felling licences,” he said.

Afforestation

In terms of afforestation, the Minister said the Department has issued more licences than at the same time last year, which are for a land area that is 20% greater in hectares.

“Forestry road licences have already surpassed the target of 125km as indicated in the climate action plan 2019 at 149km of roads licensed this year,” he said.