Semi-State forestry company Coillte has said the clean-up operation from Storm Éowyn will now take longer than originally forecast, and will continue to the middle of 2027.
It estimates a total of 50 million trees were blown over or damaged during the storm, with around 20% of its trees recovered so far.
Over 26,000 hectares of forest were damaged by the storm, which hit this time last year.
Just over half the trees impacted were on Coillte land, with 11,000 hectares belonging to private forest owners.
The agency had initially predicted that the recovery would be complete in 2026, but now says it will stretch into 2027 with the predicted overall cost set to climb to a minimum of €60m.
Coillte communications manager Pat Neville said the storm caused "unprecedented damage" to Ireland's forests.
"Initially following the storm, some work had to happen ... to understand where the damage was and how much damage was caused. So we used satellite technology, drones and aerial photography married with ground surveys. After just eight weeks, we had the entire extent of the areas mapped," he said.
Mr Neville said the agency is making good progress in recovering the damaged trees, but acknowledges Coillte's initial prediction that the work would be completed this year will now not happen.
"To date, we have about 20% of the material recovered, but the operations will continue and hopefully be fully complete by mid-2027.
"Working on wind blown sites is extremely challenging, so the sites are very complex operationally, and they're difficult sites. The safety of our contractors and the safety of our public is our absolute priority. It's important to do this work carefully and methodically," he said.
There is pressure though to recover the wood as fast as possible.
"The timber blown by the storm is salvageable for a period of up to two years. So up to that time, you can cover good quality timber," he said.
These are challenging times too for private forest owners, with just under half of the storm-blown trees belonging to them.
In Cavan, Derek McCabe's eight hectares are now bare, the 1,200 tonnes of timber lying up.
He said the value has dropped from around €180,000 to €50,000, and that is if he gets a buyer. He said the market is currently over-supplied.
"What you see here now, this timber, there's no market for it. It's gone, absolutely gone, and it has a shelf life probably no more than 12 months. And even the best of the timber, which some of it is saw log, pallet log, it'll all be consigned to pulp wood, which is the lowest possible grade. And you're at a point where it's uneconomical to actually mobilise this timber," he said.
As chairman of the Northeast Forestry Group, he also points to other issues including initial delays in getting hold of necessary in-demand equipment. He also reports that some are leaving the industry.
"I do believe that there's a lot of farmers that will not even go into their land. They don't have the money to take it out. And knowing that the market the way it is, land abandonment is probably the single biggest concern that I would see in the industry," he said.
He is also critical of the Government's response and is calling for the opening up of new markets so their timber can be moved on and sold.
"We'll do everything we can to make sure the timber will be sold and to ensure the famers will be paid what I'd call fair money"
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Healy-Rae points to a €55m scheme set up to help private forestry owners and says new markets including China are available.
"The sawmills are up to the challenge; the exports we have markets for it. We have the workers, the expertise. The big thing with this is to do our work safely and to ensure people get properly paid for their timber," Mr Healy-Rae said.
"There are new markets opening up," he added.
"We'll do everything we can to make sure the timber will be sold and to ensure the famers will be paid what I'd call a 'fair money'. Of course, it'll be a loss. If your timber fell, ten years off when it would have made its optimum money, of course there's going to be a loss," he said.
Mr Healy-Rae also said he is happy with the rate of progress being made in the recovery and replanting.
"Considering the enormity of the problem that we were faced with, I immediately set up a taskforce and completely overhauled the licensing system. So, licences aren't being held up. Nothing is actually being held up. Everything is working the best way it can, and I think we're on top of the problem. And of course, it’ll take a bit of time, but we’ll get there," he added.
