Mr. Colm Hayes:

The committee's report fed into the Government's climate action plan and we implement the goals of the plan. Hedgerows were mentioned in the plan as something that should be explored in more detail. They are a sink since they sequester carbon. They do not have an accounting value per seunder the international climate change agreement as I understand it but there is a commitment that the Department and local authorities should do a more detailed assessment of the density of hedgerows within their confines. There was previously a study by the EPA, with some input from Teagasc and the Department, which examined this issue. We are a significant funder of hedgerows under our GLAS scheme. We fund the creation of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 km of new hedgerows and that scheme is ongoing. In the past three successive agri-environment schemes that we have run, we have funded the creation of approximately 6,000 km of new hedgerows. The challenge is to find a mechanism for how the sequestration ability of hedgerows can be better factored into climate change policy. It is a key recommendation that was taken up in the climate action plan from this committee and needs to be looked at in more detail.

The second question was about the Forestry Act, which established Coillte. I am not sure whether that was taken up in the climate action plan as a result of this committee's report. We are not actively looking at it right now. Our Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform are the shareholders in Coillte, so we have ongoing engagement with it. We have a shareholder letter of expectation every year, which outlines what we expect to see Coillte do each year. It reports to our Ministers for consent for any activities.

The final matter related to broadleaves. I am glad this has been raised, with different speakers mentioning it in different ways. In my opening remarks, I mentioned the mid-term review of the forestry programme, which was about reorientating the programme and moving it towards a greater penetration of broadleaves. We looked at a number of ways of doing that. We gave a commitment to try to reach a target of 30% broadleaves as part of the national programme. We recognised that that was not being met mid-way through the current forestry programme. It was at approximately 21%. We did a couple of things as part of the mid-term review. We made it mandatory for the percentage of broadleaves in every plantation to be increased from 10% to 15%. No forestry site is being planted in the country without a minimum of 15% broadleaf plantation. We put in place some key enhancements, so any additional investment that we put into the mid-term review was directed primarily at broadleaves. We had a 7% increase for all broadleaf and diverse conifer grant categories. We had a 5% increase in the premium category, so if the farmer wants to plant, he will get 5% more than he would previously. We have had different initiatives since then which were outlined. One was the woodland environment fund, a partnership between corporate Ireland, businesses, farmers and the Department. It has taken off recently. A couple of high-profile companies were investing in that recently.