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The government's reasoning behind the delay of the long-awaited forestry programme has been called into question thanks to new information.
Having been extended by two years, the previous forestry programme elapsed on 01 December 2022, with government claiming sanction for the 2023 programme could not be sought until new state aid guidelines were approved.
A written response to Chris MacManus MEP from the European Commission has now raised questions over the validity of this "excuse".
Sinn Féin representative Chris MacManus MEP said: "Considering the importance of forestry to rural economies and its role in Climate Action, it is incredible that new afforestation licence applications cannot be accepted since 01 January.
"The excuse from governments is that they had to wait until the new rules were in place before applying for an exemption for the Irish forestry programme.
"However, the European Commission has now told Sinn Féin MEP, Chris MacManus, that Romania, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Denmark and Bulgaria all currently 'have State aid schemes for afforestation in place' that run to various durations over the coming years, and which can now be adapted to the new rules.
"Given apparent concerns within the European Commission regarding the governments' proposed forestry programme, it seems bizarre the Irish government didn't provide for a new programme under the old rules and then had worked to adapt it as other states are doing.
"The crux of this response is that the European Commission have made it abundantly apparent that they are not to blame for the most recent forestry debacle.
"Once again Minister McConalogue and Minister Hackett are presiding over a disastrous forestry policy. Having set yearly targets of 8,000 hectares of new afforestation they have barely met ¼ of that each year since entering government.
"The situation could actually worsen in 2024 due to the current delay in securing European state aid approval. This will have profound implications for Ireland's ability to reach Climate Action targets and for the forestry sector.
"The Ministers and this government must take responsibility for this disastrous situation."
