Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I do not think we have got the balance right. We certainly have not got it right so far and the Bill should address the failure to get the balance right. That is the logic behind the amendment. Of course, there are different management systems and different people deal with different aspects of forestry. I fully accept the point Deputy McNamara made earlier about making distinctions between different types of forest. We must try to have a Bill which covers all the bases and does not make it difficult for a small farmer but provides the protection we need, shifts the model a bit and addresses the failures.

There is no doubt it has been a failure that we have placed so much emphasis on one species, a non-native species, and that we have failed dramatically in our afforestation targets. This is a problem which must be addressed and the Bill should be part of addressing it. However, I will not labour the point.