Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not in a position to accept this amendment. For international reporting requirements, Ireland has used the definition in the text of the Bill. We are committed to using the same forestry definition for reporting to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The FAO definition may use 0.5 hectares but countries reporting to the FAO can use their own definitions, with Ireland having opted to use a 0.1 hectare threshold.

Changing the definition would mean that all carbon stocks previously reported to the UNFCCC would have to be revised, as well as estimates provided for the EC in respect of projected levels of carbon sinks. This would also impact on Ireland's reputation and credibility, particularly at a time when it and the European Union are in negotiations with other parties on the post-2020 climate change framework, and would involve substantial additional costs.

Afforestation schemes have provided grant aid since the early 1990s for broadleaf plantations at the threshold of 0.1 hectares. In addition, many important woodlands along rivers and valleys are small in size and upward movement in the threshold could result in their being deforested where there was no replanting.