Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Moloney to this meeting of the joint committee and wish him every success with the important position he is assuming. I look forward to our future exchanges with him in his area of responsibility.

Mr. Moloney mentioned that approximately 7% of the land mass is covered by forestry. He will agree that this is considerably lower than the European average, despite Coillte's best efforts since its inception 25 years ago. I have always been fascinated by the reasons for our low afforestation rate. Does Mr. Moloney believe it can be attributed to historical factors? Would the position be different if a body like Coillte had been in existence from an earlier stage? What plans, if any, does Mr. Moloney have to try to increase the percentage of forestry in Ireland? The points he made in his presentation were well made. He spoke about the need to reduce our carbon footprint, for example. We all know about the benefits of increased afforestation. It seems to me that many parts of the country are still available for these purposes. I wonder whether Coillte has taken its eye off the ball in this regard by focusing on other areas, such as its existing assets. How does that work? How can Coillte expand? It appears that the percentage figure has remained stubbornly at the level I have mentioned for some time.

Mr. Moloney quite rightly drew attention to the enormous contribution that Coillte forests make to the tourism economy of this country. I have often wondered why Coillte appears to hide its light under a bushel. Perhaps this is purely a perception on my part. While it is impressive that 18 million visits are made to our forests each year, it seems to me that this is an area of potential growth. I am aware that Coillte links with tourism interests here. Can it find a way of marketing this asset towards particular markets, just as it markets its other assets nationally and internationally?

There has been a regular stream of complaints over the years about people dumping waste in Coillte forests. It might seem like micro-management to bring this up, but it is not helping the tourism industry. When people walk along some of these wonderful forest trails, they sometimes discover bags dumped all over the place, perhaps after being opened by wild animals. Is this a serious issue for Coillte to manage?

I reiterate that I applaud Mr. Moloney's enlightened appointment. It is obvious that he is a man of great vision and tremendous capacity. I look forward to his achievement of the objectives he sets himself over the coming years in his capacity as chairman of Coillte.