Sinn Féin TD for Tipperary, Martin Browne, has received figures from the Department of Agriculture that reveal only one third of Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS) applications have been issued.
Browne said:
“Despite the Department of Agriculture’s insistence that the RUS scheme which was introduced in July 2020 is fit for purpose, the figures released to me show a completely different picture.
“Since its introduction, 706 applications for the scheme have been made. Yet, to-date, only 237 decisions have been issued, leaving 469 applications in limbo.
“But when the figures are examined further, the extent to which applicants are being failed becomes even more apparent.
“Of the 469 applications still outstanding, 93 were submitted between June and December of 2020, equating to one-fifth of all outstanding applications.
“Continued delays of this nature mean the continued loss of earnings for operators within the sector. This is intolerable.
“There are also questions around the fact that while 70 applications have been awaiting a decision for a year to a year-and-a-half, and 304 for applications made between a year and six months ago, only two applications made in the last six months are recorded as being outstanding.
“I have asked for further details on this figure.
“I have also been told that changes to the requirement for planning permission where replacing the ash crop with conifer species is proposed for areas under 10ha, will not be introduced until after the summer recess.
“The department has been told time and time again that it in order to make the sector an attractive prospect for future investment, it needs to reform the way applications are dealt with. So far, it has failed.”