Against the background of Brexit uncertainly and the overarching requirement for a prudent budget in 2020, expenditure next year will amount to:

• €103m for the Forestry Programme, 
• €6m in capital investment for the commercial horticulture sector,
• €16.8m for Bord na gCon,
• €12m is being provided for the Organic Farming Scheme and a further €1.2m for development of the Organic Sector.

Forestry €103m

Minister Doyle welcomed the continuation of support for the development of forestry in Ireland with the allocation of €103m (including a capital carryover) for 2020.  

Minister Doyle stated, “this allocation reflects our commitment to planting 8,000 hectares in 2020, an ambitious target contained in the Climate Action Plan. This level of planting will be challenging and will require shared action from the private sector, public bodies and local communities but this Government is committed to achieving it. This budget also provides funding for the direct implementation of a number of other actions under the Climate Action Plan including the mobilisation of the private timber resource in Ireland, a substantial investment in forest roads, continued support for knowledge transfer groups and the promotion of timber products.’’

Andrew Doyle T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, with responsibility for forestry, today announced that his Department is moving to a completely on-line forestry grant and premium system from 1st January, 2020. The system will be open for use from this November for applications for 2020 forestry premium payments which are due to be paid in early January. The proposal was presented and agreed with stakeholders at the meeting of the Forestry Programme Implementation Group, chaired by the Minister, which met earlier this week.

Minister of State for Agriculture Food and the Marine, Andrew Doyle T.D., with responsibility for forestry, today launched Ireland’s Tree Volume Calculator. This calculator has been developed to allow forest owners and managers to estimate tree volume online, using basic tree information for the main conifer and broadleaf tree species. Tree volume is an important unit of measurement as it details the size of a tree, which can be used to inform forest management decisions.  It will also assist in determining the value of a tree or forest.

Agri-environment programmes

The allocation for GLAS 2019 is €203m. This will also include some residual cases of farmers who are

still in AEOS. The Organics scheme was allocated €11m with additional €1.2m for the development of

the Organics sector.

Cross Compliance, Land Use Reconciliation Requirements