There is something inherently wrong with the felling licences situation at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The number of licences being issued to Coillte is 135% of the target outlined in the Department's forestry licensing plan 2022. Farmers and private landowners have received only 80% of the target number of licences in the same period. Afforestation is at only 54% of its target. The system is not functioning fairly for all applicants. Coillte seems to have no problem getting the licences, but ordinary farmers or businesspeople who invested in afforestation cannot get the licences. Will the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, explain how Coillte has got 135% of its target number of applications over the line this year alone, not to mention previous years, while ordinary applicants, such as farmers or businesspeople, are delayed? There is prevarication and all kinds of obstacles are put in their way.

There has been significant investment in the Department's resources, with more ecologists, forestry inspectors and additional administrative staff assigned to licensing. A team of 35 ecologists has been recruited to deal specifically with licensing. In 2021, 56% more licences were issued than in 2020, with 4,050 licences issued, compared with 2,592 licences issued in 2020. In terms of improved output, some 2,877 felling licences were issued last year, 1,532 of which were for Coillte. Critically, the availability of this volume of timber, at nearly 8.5 million cu. m, stabilised supply to the processing sector in 2021. That was the highest volume ever issued in a single year. Some 264 km of forest roads were licensed in 2021, which is more than double the target in the climate action plan of 2019. It was the highest ever volume of forest roads licensed in a single year. The number of afforestation licences remains static, with approximately 4,000 ha of planning approved in 2021.