Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

How was the information in regard to "the wall" of timber communicated and by whom? This is very serious. The communication of such a serious statement could be interpreted as enhancing the financial situation of a company. The sum of €200 million is a colossal amount. At the end of the day, it will be the consumer who will pay for this. I agree with the comments on land sales. Bottlehill landfill, which is close to where I live, is a €50 million white elephant. The land was sold by Coillte to the county council for €15 million. One could buy a large amount of good land for that amount. The consumer will pay for this also.

Another issue of concern is that of leeways. One example is the huge tariffs the ESB must pay to Coillte if it needs to run a wire through Coillte-owned land. This also affects the consumer. It makes no sense. A neighbour of Mr. Glennon's who works for Green Belt Limited in Castlelyons told me in conversation last week that while last year it was difficult to get 7,000 ha of land, this year they are inundated with applications for forestry from all types of land, good and poor. The common thread in this regard is the age profile of the farmer. Farmers who have good land are no longer leasing it but are getting involved in planting. We will be faced with a huge issue in terms of Harvest 2020 if we do not take account of land being used for forestry. While I am a great supporter of forestry, it is increasing for all the wrong reasons. We need to be careful and to monitor this closely. Elderly farmers who should be encouraged to retire and lease their holdings are not doing so because of the horror stories such as people refusing to continue paying after one year and are moving instead to forestry of good land.