Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A point which comes up in my part of the country is monoculture and that the only tree planted is Sitka spruce. This is a poor quality timber which is not good enough for electricity poles.

Farmers are always wary of a permanent change of land use. The sole use of land is an issue too. Nothing else can happen to forestry planted lands. However, in other countries, other types of agriculture can occur because the planting is not too dense and there is no monoculture. We have a well established dairy industry which works well. The forestry industry is also well established with the equipment in place to plant and harvest quickly. I accept the Sitka spruce is also better suited to the poorer land while the more native trees such as oak and ash are not. Has Coillte any projects which will advance the type of afforestation where the land will not be solely used for growing trees?

I am told about all the jobs in forestry but I never see people working on the forestry lands around where I live. We grow all these trees, planted by Coillte or some other big company. Nobody works on them for years until the end when they come in for three weeks to cut them. Nothing really goes back into local economy, however.

It was stated earlier that €700 million of timber products are exported every year. Is that solely what Coillte exports or what the entire industry exports?

In County Leitrim, we have had problems with landslides on mountains and rivers changing courses because of large industrial wind farms. A year ago a man was killed there because his digger slid down a hill but could not be stopped. This type of work is happening in places where it is not natural to build these large industrial wind farms. I am concerned that, if we go down that direction, it may have a negative impact on communities where these turbines are located.