Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I reiterate what I stated. It is the job of the EPA and local authorities, not the forestry service, to look after the environment. If an environmental issue arose at a forest plantation tomorrow, I have no doubt the Department's forestry service would have to approach the EPA for advice and support. Therefore, it would be wrong to insert a reference to pollution in the Bill when the EPA and local authorities are already doing the job on a statutory basis, as well as the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. It is their job to look after the matter and they do so on a statutory basis.

If the provision were included, it would lead to duplication. The Bill is not about duplication. As I have said from the outset, the aim of the legislation is to make it easier for people to invest in forestry and to encourage them. The industry has great potential and has expanded exceptionally well despite experiencing difficulties in recent years. The industry has worked through them and Ireland is exporting timber. The industry is very successful and there is great potential for landowners, large and small, to invest in the sector. We do not want duplication in legislation.

At the risk of repeating myself, we want to make business easier for the people involved in the sector. Many of them are protectors of the environment. Any of them who own land are custodians of the land, protect the land and are quite good at doing so. The agencies will act as their backup so there is no need for us to insert a provision in the Bill.