Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will keep it brief. I have no speeches, just questions. I thank all our guest speakers for their excellent presentations. My first set of questions is for Mr. Purser. What are the greatest barriers to continuous cover forestry in Ireland? Do we need a new forestry strategy, or are there legislative changes we could make to incentivise landowners to go in that direction rather than with a monoculture crop?

Did Mr. Purser say that continuous cover forestry is not included in the forestry inventory?

If that is the case, was CCF not included Ireland's National Accounting Plan 2021-2025, the report submitted to the European Commission in September 2020 which sets Ireland's forest reference level, FRL, for that period? If the mitigation impact of CCF was accounted for, it would mean emissions from monoculture forestry are even higher? I ask Mr. Purser to clarify that point.

In her opening statement, Dr. Farrell called for a national peatlands unit. Where should such a unit sit? We have seen the problems that arose with regard to the biodiversity centre, short-term contracts, who owns the data, workers' rights, etc. Does Dr. Farrell believe the unit should sit within the Department or should it be in the National Parks and Wildlife Service?

That leads me to my final question, which is for all our witnesses. What would they like to see emerge from the review of the National Parks and Wildlife Service? Would they like it become a stand-alone agency with powers of enforcement?