Forestry contractors from across Europe are starting to flood in to the country, as the massive operation to salvage timber from 24,000ha of flattened plantations cranks up a gear.

The Department of Agriculture confirmed that harvesting machinery from Britain, Austria and Estonia is already in the process of being cleared to begin work in Ireland, while talks are ongoing with firms from Finland, Sweden, Germany and France.

Levelled

It is estimated that around 10m cubic metres were levelled by storms Darragh and Éowyn, which equates to almost double the annual capacity of the country’s sawmills.

“We are aware from discussions at the Forest Windblow Taskforce, and from other engagements, that companies involved in harvesting have already started bringing harvesting machines into Ireland from the UK, Austria, Estonia and other European countries,” a spokesperson for the Department told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“We also understand that there is ongoing engagement in relation to additional harvesting capacity with companies in Finland, Sweden, Germany and France,” the spokesperson added.

Coillte confirmed that it had already “contracted one European contractor from Austria” who is due to start work in the coming weeks, but a spokesperson said that further capacity may need to be sourced from abroad.

The State body pointed out that around 12,000ha of its forestry estate was flattened or severely damaged in the storms.

“We’re engaging with our existing contractors in the first instance to assess if they can scale up, given the scale of the challenge. If we identify gaps in capacity, we will then look to deploy international contractors, who would be contracted directly to Coillte,” a Coillte spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the Department pointed out that “second-hand or used forestry machines originating in third countries require a phytosanitary certificate” to work in Ireland, while machines from other EU member states must be clean and “free of soil and plant debris”.

The Department maintained that it will be carrying out phytosanitary inspections on harvesting machinery at ports.

Meanwhile, the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors called for a total ban on the introduction of foreign-owned machines as many Irish-owned forestry harvesters and forwarders were idle.

Managing director Ann Gleeson Hanrahan said the slow pace of clearing and salvaging damaged forests was not related to the harvesting capacity within Ireland but due to “other vested interests” using the crisis “as an excuse to keep harvested timber prices low”.