Minister of State with responsibility for forestry, farm safety and horticulture Niall Collins has announced the opening of the third tranche of the Innovative Forest Technology Scheme: module three – Sustainable Forest Harvest Machinery Grant.

Minister Collins said he was “very happy” to make the next version of the grant available to a wider range of applicants, now including forestry producer groups and licenced hauliers, as well as forestry contractors.

He mentioned previous offerings of this scheme introduced specialised, low-impact machinery that is now being used on windblow, ash dieback and broadleaf harvesting sites across the country.

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The scheme provides support to eligible forestry contractors and timber hauliers for the purchase of new forest machinery and timber transport equipment that will improve the performance of forest operations. This technology will help make timber transport safer and more efficient.

Objective

The minister said: “The objective of this scheme is to encourage the availability of sustainable timber harvesting, extraction and transport equipment in the marketplace to protect water quality, road safety and fuel efficiency and to deliver on environmental and operator safety objectives for forest operations.”

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Tuesday 15 September 2026. For more information on how to apply, click here.