Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Jupp and congratulate her on her appointment. I wish her the best of luck going forward. On the basis of her opening statement, climate seems to be the buzzword, with the role Coillte has in driving our climate targets and ambitions. With that in mind, the entire forestry sector has been sold as the silver bullet for us to reach many of our targets. It is way off the mark. We have had many hearings and meetings here. I would like to hear from Ms Jupp how she thinks Coillte can help us to reach the target, which is 8,000 ha. I know Coillte has approximately 7% of the national land bank, so it is probably restricted in that it can only sow what it owns. How can Coillte play a role in the overall forestry sector to try to get things back on track and help us to achieve our national targets?

On that, at some of the most recent meetings we had involving Coillte, we heard about a very good Coillte scheme called the farm partnership scheme or the premium partners scheme, whereby Coillte manages plantations on privately owned land. We heard from people in those partnerships but all we heard about was arbitration and litigation. We heard stories about how poorly the whole system is being operated and managed. From the individuals' perspective, the issues were all on Coillte's side of the arrangement. I presume the witnesses are aware of these issues. Has Ms Jupp a plan to overcome existing problems in the premium partners or farm partnership scheme? If the existing problems can be overcome, what role is there for a scheme in which Coillte can get its shoulder to the wheel and get private planters and private landowners back growing trees, thereby restoring confidence in the whole sector? That is a short question but I would like a comprehensive, long answer.