Forestry Council Report November 2025

Policy proposals for approval by National Council 

The IFA Farm Forestry committee proposes for a National Forestry Insurance Scheme.

Market Review 

The Forestry Weekly Dashboard showed that, as of the end of October 2025, 2,829 hectares of new forest have been planted and 206km of forest roads constructed. Afforestation licences issued to establish 8,727 hectares under the Afforestation scheme and 605 hectares under the Native Tree Area scheme. A total of 1,028 private felling licences were issued compared with 299 Coillte felling licences. 

Activity since last National Council 

Budget 2026

A total of €93 million was allocated to forestry in Budget 2026, representing an increase of 5.7% on Budget 2025.

Reconstitution Ash Dieback Scheme 2023-2027 (RADS).

Two aspects of the scheme updated:

• The treated area calculation for payment purposes
• The eligibility of ash crop containing a proportion of other species. Both are now clarified in section 4 of the updated scheme document.

IFA Forestry CAP Post-2027 Proposal  

In August 2023, the European Commission granted State Aid approval to the Afforestation scheme under Ireland’s Forestry Programme 2023 – 2027, subject to several criteria. The condition on organo-mineral soils should be reviewed so that peat depth of less than or equal to 50 cm, subject to appropriate assessment screening, is eligible under the afforestation scheme. In addition, the mandatory broadleaf area requirement should be reduced to 15%, in line with the previous programme. An amendment to the State aid guidelines to support farmers with ash dieback is also required. 

Government approval for legislation re electricity grid

The government approved priority drafting of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025.

The bill will provide for the establishment and maintenance of forestry corridors – areas within a given distance of the electricity network, within which forestry vegetation and related activities can be restricted by law.

The bill will:

• provide ESB Networks with additional vegetation management powers
• enable the Minister to make regulations on the dimensions and conditions of corridors
• attach responsibilities to landowners for corridor maintenance
• establish principles for the compensation of landowners affected by forestry corridor works
• Considering the urgency of this undertaking, disapply the Planning and Development Act 2000 for the associated works, while confirming continued application of the environmental obligations under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives

The Minister briefed Cabinet that additional costs to the Exchequer were not expected, as costs associated with improvements to the resilience of the electricity grid are covered by network tariffs set as part of periodic price reviews. This process is overseen by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, which ensures that only appropriate, efficient and justified costs are approved of for recovery.

Department Forest Windblow taskforce. 

Michael Healy Rae – “As part of Budget 2026… This investment will include a Forestry Reconstitution Scheme for those affected by windblown sites, subject to Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation approval. Once formal approval is secured, my department will move quickly to introduce the scheme.”

The second tranche of the Innovative Forest Technology Scheme: Module 3 – Sustainable Forest Harvesting Machinery Grant scheme opened 1st September 2025 to the 23^rd October 2025. A total of four projects at a maximum of €50,000 per project will be funded per annum. 

Innovative Forest Technology Scheme: Module 4 – Temporary Forest Access Grant has opened for applications. The Temporary Forest Access Grant is aimed at facilitating rapid timber mobilisation and the protection of environmentally sensitive sites, where conventional road construction is not 

financially viable or warranted due to small area relative to transport distance to road. A total of four projects at a maximum of €20,000 per project, will be funded per annum. Module 4 of this Scheme shall remain open until end 2027 subject to available budgets and at the discretion of the Minister.

Bark Beetle

Over recent months, DAFM said it continued to engage closely with its Scottish and Northern Ireland counterparts. 

European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

The Commission has released its official proposal to delay and amend key elements of the EUDR. This simplification gives us some of our asks, but we will still work with MEPs to make sure it doesn’t touch farmers at all – We want a single DDS to be done at country level without farmers having to engage with the IT system. 

Forest monitoring law 

European Parliament rejected a proposal on the monitoring framework for resilient European forests. In a separate vote, Members adopted a new status for the Standing Forest and Forestry Expert Group.

370 MEPs voted to reject the Commission’s proposal, with 264 voting against the rejection of the proposal and 9 abstaining.

• IFA attended a meeting with Kevin Roach to discuss his research on peatlands, nature and Carbon Credits on the 26^th June.
• IFA Farm Forestry Committee meeting took place in the Irish Farm Centre on the 23^rd July.
• IFA Farm Forestry chair Padraig Stapleton and Policy executive Amy Mulchrone attended online Forestry Industry Trasport Group meeting on the 13^th August. 
• IFA hosted the second meeting of the Volume vs Tonnage Stakeholder Group on the 20^th August.
• IFA President and Policy Executive Amy Mulchrone met with newly elected Forestry Industry Ireland Chair Mark Sheeran on the 28^th August.
• IFA attended online Copa-Cogeca webinar on challenges, barriers and possible solutions for the tree planting on the 4^thSeptember.
• IFA Farm Forestry Chair Padraig Stapleton attended DAFM Ash dieback taskforce meeting in Ag House on the 25^th September. 
• IFA attended online DAFM Hen Harrier project update on the 15^th September.
• IFA Farm Forestry Vice Chair Francis Foley attended FSCC meeting in Ag House on the 23^rd September. 
• IFA participated in EU Engagement Study lead by Cormac O’ Carroll and Donal Whealan on the 26^th September.
• IFA participated in research on DAFM funded project to Counter Myths regarding Irish Forestry on the 26^th September. 
• IFA Farm Forestry met online with Maria Walsh MEP to discuss EUDR on the 30^th September.
• IFA Policy Executive Amy Mulchrone attended Forestry Industry Transport Group meeting on the 2^nd October.
• IFA Farm Forestry Chair Padraig Stapleton attended DAFM Ash dieback taskforce meeting on the 6^th October.
• IFA Farm Forestry met with Coillte to discuss Coillte Farm Partnerships post storm damage on the 7^th October. 
• IFA met with ESB Networks on the 28^th October.

Any EU/COPA developments

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has published a special report 16/2025 “EU funding for forest fires: more preventive measures, but insufficient evidence of results and their long-term sustainability”, FP (25)01698[1] led by ECA Member Nikolaos Milionis.

EU funding is increasingly used to finance prevention measures against forest fires, but the money is not always spent effectively on the ground. This is the unequivocal finding of the report published. The auditors say that EU money to tackle forest fires is not systematically spent where needs and risks are highest, or with a long-term perspective, although it is crucial for getting tangible results. However, such an approach is vitally important, as forest wildfires have become more frequent and more intense in the EU in recent years.’

• IFA attended online Copa-Cogeca meeting with the European Commission presentation of future MFF and CAP proposals on the 18^th July.
• EU Forest Monitoring Law 
• EUDR
• IFA to attend online Copa-Cogeca EUDR update on the 29^th October
• IFA to attend online Copa-Cogeca Matching Carbon Credits and scope 3 MRV through CRCF: the role of the registry on the 31^st October. 
• IFA to attend online Copa-Cogeca Commission export group Forest and Forestry Stakeholder Platform meeting on the 13^thNovember. 
• IFA to attend online Copa-Cogeca Forestry Working Party meeting on the 9^th December. 
• IFA to attend online Commission DG Agri and DG Envi Joint Meeting of the stakeholders Platform on forestry and standing forestry committee on the 10^th December. 

Upcoming issues

• IFA Farm Forestry committee meeting to take place in the Irish Farm Centre on the                12^th November 
• IFA Clare will host its annual Foresty meeting on the 25^th November
• IFA to attend DAFM FSCC meeting on the 16^th December