Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

They are not too far apart. Bord na Móna has aspirations about biomass but I have done research on willow and know the amount of area one needs as compared with the amount available. I also know about the quality of land which will be required if Bord na Móna teams up with Coillte for spruce or the other trees it grows. We are importing timber from Scotland, manufacturing goods with it and exporting them to England. The competitiveness of the timber market means there is not enough timber. The sawmills can go for 24 hours and we have the contracts but we cannot keep it going. It is lovely dreaming a dream of where we might be but we need to have realism and if the sawmills and the people who are exporting manufactured timber, which is very important in creating employment, get their chunk, I do not think, given the figures I have seen, there is enough to match what Bord na Móna would need.