Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State's arguments miss the point because no one is proposing the Minister interferes in the markets. The simple fact of the matter is that if there is an enormous scarcity of anything, it is a seller's market. The Minister of State is saying on the one hand that he cannot interfere with the market, but on the other hand, he has amended the Bill to say the production of timber is a legitimate aim of the legislation. My amendment refers to the production of timber and to promoting and facilitating the supply of saw log at competitive prices. An adequate supply of saw log ensures prices are competitive. If I were to take out the phrase "at competitive prices" on Report Stage in order that the amendment would read "to promote and facilitate the provision of a sufficient supply of saw log to meet the requirements of the timber industry", that would be allowing the market to take its course. That would remove the pressure on the mills to outbid one another for a limited and insufficient supply of saw log. I do not accept the Minister of State's contention that European law says we cannot plan as a State to ensure we will have a sufficient supply of saw log in ten, 20 or even 70 years time to meet the requirements of the industry. If that were the case, one could argue there is something wrong with the EU but I do not believe the EU is saying that.

If it makes the Minister of State's job easier, I will come back on Report Stage with a revised amendment or the Minister of State himself could propose an amendment that takes out the words "at competitive prices". The Government can encourage and facilitate the development of a competitive industry. IDA Ireland does it all the time. We encourage and facilitate such development in many different ways. No one seems to have a problem with us building motorways, reducing the cost of broadband and providing any number of services for industries here. What is needed for the timber industry to be more competitive is an increase in supply as well as a guarantee of that supply. Therefore, I cannot see where the problem lies with amendment No. 21. If the offending words are "at competitive prices", I have no problem in taking them out and coming back on Report Stage with a revised amendment. I would be interested to see if the Minister of State would come back with an amendment of his own.

Amendment No. 94 allows the Minister to make regulations and I believe it is important the Minister is able to do so to deal with this issue. There is no point in having an afforestation programme if at the end of it we do not have a competitive, effective, properly functioning timber industry. At the end of the day, trees have to be felled at some stage and the majority of timber in this country is commercial. We must have a competitive industry at the end of the process. If not, the Minister of State is saying jobs do not count.