There are over 400 forestry licence applications from Kerry currently awaiting decision by the Department of Agriculture.
That's according to figures provided by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, following a parliamentary question by Cork Fine Gael TD David Stanton.
In his response to Deputy Stanton's question, Minister Charlie McConalogue outlined the number of applications awaiting decision by his department for forestry licences in each county, broken down by type.
There are currently 430 forestry licence applications awaiting decision from Kerry, which is the joint third highest of any county, behind Cork and Tipperary, and level with Clare.
286 of these applications are for tree felling licences.
There are 84 afforestation licence applications awaiting decision, while 60 of the applications are for forest road licences.
In his response, Minister McConalogue stated the Department is committed to issuing 4,500 forestry licences nationwide this year, which would be an increase of 75% on 2020.
He added 39% of that target has been issued as of the end of June.
