Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Returning to the documents we were sent by the Department - they are very helpful, as is the dashboard - the COFORD Council report in 2018 stated that 3.2 million cu. m of timber was harvested in the Republic. On the island in total, there was processing of some 4.9 million cu. m. That is the COFORD Council report, so I obviously believe it. On the Department's dashboard, it is stated that 13,972 ha of felling licences were issued. In fairness, that was done out as 3.8 million cu. m of timber. In 2019, there were some 57,195 ha. The Department did not calculate the cubic metres in this regard - I did it myself - but it comes out at 15.5 million cu. m. Going on the basis of what the Department put on the dashboard, this means that in 2019 and 2020 there were 19.3 million cu. m of timber. We are using 5 million cu. m of timber a year. That is 10 million cu. m maximum even if we did not import anything, which we do. In October, the Department stated that felling licences had been issued for 761,213 cu. m. I have looked at the number of appeals for 2019 and 2020. Those appeals related to 7,313 ha in the context of licensing and 417 licences. Where is the timber?