Dr. Gerhardt Gallagher:

The position here is slightly different from other countries where privatisation has taken place. New Zealand, for example, has a huge indigenous forest of podocarps and various other species. Its non-privatised area of natural forest is very large, whereas Ireland has only a small area of indigenous forest remaining and depends mainly on introduced species. The area of recreation and amenity is intertwined with forestry. For example, visitors to Crone Wood in Glencree will find good commercial Douglas fir growing on the side of a mountain on which thousands of visitors walk every weekend. One cannot put forestry and recreation and amenity into separate boxes because they are closely intertwined. This is another reason we would prefer the mix of public and private forestry.