Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House for this debate. I got to hear some of her speech. I understand there are no copies of her opening statement available, which is funny given that we are talking about trees, timber and paper. If we are not going to be provided with paper copies of speeches, perhaps they could be emailed to us when the opening statement is made.

I have questions for the Minister of State around the industry in my local area of Roscommon and east Galway. Senator Doherty and I were fortunate to be part of a group that visited Murray Timber Group in Ballygar. It was so impressive to see the measures the company is putting in place to adapt and be ready for the industry of the future, for example in terms of automation and upskilling the existing workforce there. Ballygar is a small town on the boundary between Galway and Roscommon and this company offers employment to people in that area.

I would like to see a balance between the demands we have here that ensures industry is supported in rural areas. The challenge we have is that so many workers are being drawn to city centres and so much of our workforce is on the high end. People can get degrees in areas like medical technology, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing, but we also need to ensure we are supporting a workforce that is available locally. Arbor Forest Management, another group that has a company based in Ballinasloe but has its headquarters in Cork, deals with farmers around licences. I know that this was a major issue a number of years ago, and that changes have been made, but there is still an impact around ensuring we have the ecologists. Could the Minister of State comment in her closing statement on the number of ecologists who have been brought into the Department and the number of licences that have been issued in the last while around afforestation and access?

Ash dieback was mentioned by colleagues earlier. There is real concern around ash dieback in many garden centres I have been in recently. People in that sector are very interested in the environment, forestry and trees in general and are very knowledgeable on those topics. The ash dieback issue is across the Shannon and really has an impact on the west. I would welcome whatever comments the Minister of State has on that.

We have had presentations from an industry that is fearful of change in this area. I understand the elements the Minister of State is bringing forward in terms of the promotion of the broadleaf tree - she wants to ensure we have more native trees and they are broadleaf trees - and the impact that brings. We know from the oak tree that 200 types of insects are supported. However, there needs to be a balance with local industry. I am conscious of rural industry, in particular.