Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Lombard. He is right in terms of afforestation. My Department's officials engage with the foresters, who are, one might say, the middle or intermediary between the grower or the farmer and the licence. It is through the foresters that licences are submitted. The Senator will recall in my opening statement that I mentioned the better quality the applications can be, the more likely licences will be issued in good time and so forth.

The Senator overlaps a little bit with Deputy Carthy's comments on the number and how we get people to use their licences. We must do our best to encourage them to use the licence. It is a concern to me that after jumping through all the hoops required to get a licence, the landowners perhaps sit on it for a while and maybe change their minds. We need to get underneath that and understand why that is the case. Anyone who gets a licence is absolutely delighted at the moment to have received one.