Mr. Mark Carlin:

It might be the case - a little like what we are doing with the Bord na Móna initiative - that it would be better to return an area to wilderness by giving nature a bit of a kick-start and planting birch and Scots pine seed. The Deputy asked a very pertinent question and it is one we are asking ourselves as well. We should not blindly do what we always did. We must look at what is right in terms of satisfying timber production, recreational and societal needs and also climate and biodiversity. That is the balance we are trying to strike with reforestation as well.