Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It will be huge and I commend Coillte in that regard. I salute its arrival in Newcastle Wood. It is a large area and I know that the former Deputy, James Bannon, would be excited about its upcoming opening if he was present. It is a new area that Coillte has entered and I acknowledge the constructive role it has played. It is the type of thinking that Ms Gray will bring to the business. When I say she is a rural person, I do not mean it in a derogatory way. Rather, I mean that she will surely be cognisant of the rural impact of that type of innovation at her organisation, which has been saluted by all and sundry.

I apologise for missing her contribution but I have a copy of her contribution, which I read earlier. I will not repeat the questions of the Chairman and others, which, I am sure, have addressed matters. In fairness, it is a bit churlish of us to ask her or anyone else to try to extrapolate what will happen when, from hour to hour and day to day, nobody knows what will happen. I will not be unfair to her in that regard. There is much potential for Coillte to continue its work and there are targets to be achieved. Coillte should set out to ensure that we become even more self-sufficient in our hardwood products and so on, which are important not only for achieving the carbon reduction targets but also for the industry. We often must import much of our roofing materials, for example, but much of that can be made in Ireland and it would also contribute to the construction industry.

I wish Ms Gray well in her tenure as chairperson and acknowledge her wide and varied expertise. Like me, she has a strong GAA background and I look forward to working with her over the next period.