Mr. Pat Glennon:

On the point made by Senator O'Neill and Deputy Boyd Barrett, we are not in competition for good agricultural land and should never be. We may need to take another look at the grant structure for planting softwoods versus hardwoods. Deputy Doyle is correct that it will not be possible to grow strange species on some of the land we are considering. Sitka spruce is the workhorse for the construction industry across Europe. It is where we will be competing and where we need products. We need to consider having a second string to our bow should something happen to that species, such as disease and so on. There are other species that can and need to be considered. We are not competing with good quality agricultural land and should never be. Deputy Ó Cuív is correct that we are often unable to plant for ecological reasons.