Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am not entirely sure I agree with my colleague, Deputy Barry, that people are as indifferent to climate change as he claims. As a result of storms, there are many frightened people living on the western seaboard of Clare. Of course, it is difficult to pin down whether or not the storms are a result of climate change, but there is a considerable amount of scientific evidence to suggest that they are going to become more prevalent in the future.

I am interested in much of what the witnesses said, particularly in regard to carbon sequestration from forests. Do they have any statistics on how that compares to other carbon sequestration - for example, in hedgerows? Are certain species better at carbon sequestration? Are the native broadleaf trees better at carbon sequestration than Sitka spruce? There is the Coillte estate, there is whole forest estate and then there are hedgerows. What percentage of the total carbon sequestration is allotted to each of those sectors?

I presume the majority of trees in Ireland are in forests but I would not be as certain that the majority of native broadleaf trees are in forests. One might find a greater number of native broadleaf trees in hedgerows than in the forest estate. Do they have any statistics on that? I accept that much of what I have asked goes far beyond the strict mandate of Coillte, which is why they came here.