The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has issued 147 private felling licences and 59 Coillte felling licences so far this year.

In the last week, up until March 7, DAFM issued just 12 private felling licences and 12 Coillte felling licences, covering an area of 207ha. A total of two licences were issued for thinning and 22 for clear fell.

Concerns have been voiced by the Social, Economic, and Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland (SEEFA) following an estimated 24,000ha of forestry that was blown down after the storm.

There is an approximately even split between public and private forests. It is estimated that around 10 million cubic metres of timber has been affected, predominantly in spruce plantations older than 20 years of age.

"The impact of recent storms has compounded an already severe backlog, leaving us more than three years behind schedule on forestry targets," the association stated.

"We simply cannot afford further delays if we are serious about meeting our environmental, economic, and moral obligations to reforest Ireland," SEEFA said.

SEEFA added that last week marked the "second worst week of the year" for afforestation licencing, with just three licences totalling 36ha, which totals 24% of the weekly average target.

Under Ireland’s Forest Strategy 2023-2030, the afforestation target is 8,000ha annually.

DAFM issued 99 afforestation licences so far this year for 701ha of forestry. A total of 332ha of forestry has been planted so far this year, and 77 valid afforestation licences have been submitted to date in 2025.

Under the Native Woodland Conservation Scheme this year, only one licence has been issued by DAFM this year for 5ha.

A total of 63 licences were issued under the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback Scheme, relating to 201ha. 15 licences were issued under the Deer Tree Shelter scheme (DTS) for 94ha, and 13 were issued under the Woodland Improvement Scheme (WIS) for 78ha.