Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. McAuley for his opening presentation and he is very welcome to the meeting. Everybody in this room will very much agree with the sentiments expressed that the forestry sector is in crisis. I read with interest today a press release from the IFA. I do not know if anybody else present has seen it. The headline is that the forest service is strangling the sector that it has responsibility for promoting. We will all agree with that because it has been a sentiment of my own for the last while.

I studied horticulture and worked in the forestry sector with None-So-Hardy (Forestry) Limited in Wicklow, with John McCarthy, for quite a number of years and have a little bit of experience of the sector. One of the most damning things that I have ever seen was millions of trees being dumped on a yearly basis. It must be most frustrating for the companies and the industry to see this happening.

I have three questions I wish to put to Mr. O'Brien. What are the most critical issues facing the sector? I am aware that Mr. McAuley has mentioned to us a number of these but I would like to know his views on this. What do the stakeholders in the industry see as tangible solutions? What is needed right now to get over the difficulties we have?

The other thing that received great play over the last while is the implementation of the Mackinnon report. I had an oral parliamentary question on that with the Minister about two months ago. It is in the programme for Government. Will this address the licensing delays and delays in the forest service? Will this report, if fully implemented, address most of the problems? At the meeting with the Minister last week, what was the Minister's update on the current status of the implementation of the Mackinnon report? I will come back with further questions later on.