Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 February 2023
295. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will verify a statement by a person (details supplied) related to the survey in 2020 that it was costing the Government approximately €17,000 per ha for an individual with yield class 22 to get €20,000 per ha at harvest time after 35 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9334/23]
View answerMy Department provides a range of grants and premiums and the rates paid depends on the species planted. In the previous Forestry Programme 2014 to 2022, a grant of €3,815 was paid to establish a commercial forest, consisting of Sitka spruce with broadleaves and additional space for nature.
A premium was paid for 15 years at rate of €510 per hectare. Based on these rates a total of €11,465 is payable on a hectare if the forest establishes successfully. Higher premiums and grants are paid for broadleaved forests.
The value of a forest is dependent on a wide range of factors and it is difficult to provide exact figures. However my Department has developed a Felling Decision Tool to provide owners with information on estimated timber revenues at different stages in the forest cycle.
Using the Felling Decision Tool, it is possible to assess how clearfell revenue varies according to yield class. It was assumed that each stand was thinned three times prior to clearfell, the stand was clearfelled when it reached a tree size of 0.7 cubic metres and the timber price used was based on a five year average (i.e. 2015-2019).
|
Yield Class |
Clearfell Age |
Net Clearfell volume (m3/ha) |
Net Clearfell Revenue (€/ha) |
|
12 |
54 |
466 |
€26,305 |
|
14 |
47 |
427 |
€24,006 |
|
16 |
43 |
413 |
€23,361 |
|
18 |
39 |
394 |
€22,150 |
|
20 |
36 |
367 |
€20,673 |
|
22 |
35 |
357 |
€20,206 |
|
24 |
32 |
310 |
€17,391 |
|
26 |
31 |
312 |
€17,523 |
|
28 |
29 |
282 |
€15,893 |
|
Average Net Clear fell (€/ha) |
€20,834 |
The Felling Decision Tool is freely available on the Department’s website for users to explore the impact of management and felling age on clearfell revenue for a range of species.
In the example above the grants and premiums paid on a hectare of spruce are significantly less than the revenue generated from harvesting.
However it should be noted that the figures in the table above are indicative and revenues could be significantly lower if markets are less favourable at the time of sale, or quality and access is poor.
