More than 3,000 forests in Cork received grant aid from the Department of Agriculture since 1980, the Dail heard recently.
Waterford-based Deputy John Deasy queried the Agriculture Minster for the number of private forests by county that received grant aid from the department during the period 1980 to 2012.
Of a total of 26,720 forests receiving this aid, Cork has the most with 3,170 followed by Clare with 2,264 and Kerry with 2,503. The counties with the lowest number of private forests receiving this aid are Dublin with 86, Louth 82 and Carlow 230.
Deputy Deasy also requested the number of applications granted, by county, under the afforestation grant and premium scheme, each year since 2007 inclusive. Cork topped the table in every year running and 2012 was the busiest year for the county, with 153 applications, followed in the same year by Clare with 74 applications and Kerry with 65. On the lower end of the table, Dublin made only 4 applications last year, Louth made 6 and Carlow made 9.
There were very few applications for the woodland reconstitution scheme from 2007 to 2012 with a total of 15 applications made throughout the country last year.
The number for applications for grants under the woodland improvement scheme from 2007 to 2012 were also requested by Mr Deasy. 2012 was by far the busiest year for these applications. Tipperary made the most applications with 29, followed by Laois with 22 and Kildare with 19. There were no applications of this type made by Dublin last year, and Monaghan made one while Donegal made two.
Regarding the number of applications granted under the native woodland establishment scheme from 2007 to 2012, there were only four made in total throughout the country; three in Clare and one in Donegal.
Applications granted and paid under the forest roads scheme from 2007 to 2012 revealed 33 from Cork, 28 from Kerry and 23 from Kilkenny. The fewest applications for this grant came from Dublin with zero and Monaghan, Louth and Donegal with one application each.
The Oireachtas debate is available here.