Minister of State Killeen Launches Forestry Promotion Campaign in Clare

Speaking at the launch of a major forestry promotion campaign in Clare today, Mr. Tony Killeen T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, highlighted Clare’s long tradition in forestry and the benefits of forestry, both to farmers and to society generally.

The nationwide forestry campaign, ‘Forests for a Bright Future’, is a joint initiative between the Irish Forest Industry Chain (IFIC) and the Department of Agriculture and Food. The purpose of the campaign is to highlight the income, employment, energy, environmental and amenity advantages of forestry to farm families, rural areas and the national economy. The Clare launch is one of a series of regional launches that are taking place at present.

Referring to the benefits from forestry for farmers, Minister Killeen said: “the fact that the full cost of planting is covered by grants, that farmers can plant up to half their lands and still retain their full Single Payment Entitlements, and the availability of grants to cover pruning, shaping and forest roads during the growing cycle as well as tax-free premiums of up to €499 per hectare, in addition to the end value of the timber crop makes forestry a very viable alternative land use option”.

He also referred to the contribution that forestry make to the economy, both local and national, through direct and indirect employment, citing the local example of the Finsa plant in Scarrif, Co. Clare, a long established manufacturing business using home produced timber as a raw material.

Minister Killeen highlighted the developments in wood energy, especially the County Clare Wood Energy Farm Forestry Project, a project on wood biomass energy, which is being carried out by the Rural Resource Development Ltd. in conjunction with Teagasc and with financial support from the Department of Agriculture and Food. Part of the project is the installation of woodchip boilers by energy users in the area and the organised production of the woodchip fuel by local farmers. Minister Killeen commented: “The aim of the project is to help farm forest growers achieve an economically viable return from their forestry produce, while assisting in the development of renewable energy in both Clare and Ireland”.

Minister Killeen concluding by saying that “a sustained afforestation programme offers the opportunity for a major transformation in Irish farming, creating a new farmer-forester category which will underpin long-term economic viability for many holdings. Few other land uses offer the same return as forestry”.

ENDS/LA206 22 September 2006