Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State spoke earlier of encouraging new farmers to come into the sector. Someone else referred to patience. I will use my county and that of the Cathaoirleach as an example. The planting of trees in Tipperary plummeted to an all-time low last year, with 12 ha planted compared with 1,200 ha planted in 2001. Forestry licences are taking almost two years to process. How does the Department encourage new farmers to come into the industry when they see these figures?

Separately, recent figures showed that licences for 899 afforestation projects, 573 forest roads and 4,487 felling projects are still awaiting decision from the Department. We all know the backlog is there but there is a kickback in that the backlog is causing problems further back with sawmills and so on. What assurances can the Minister of State and the officials give that these kinds of figures will have improved by the end of the year? Personally, I have no confidence at this stage. We have listened every time the Department representatives have been before the committee and we keep hearing how it will be at the end of the year. We are in the first week of August now. The end of the year is coming fast. Unless we take something out of the Olympics and people start sprinting, I do not see how we will get anywhere near the numbers being talked about before the end of the year.

Can the officials give assurances to farmers in Tipperary that the position as regards the figures I cited will improve by the end of the year? Can they give assurances that sawmills and so on will finish up with enough timber at the end of the year and not have to source timber outside the country? Everyone is being caught up in this, from farmers all the way back to building merchants, who are short of timber. Timber is needed for the building of houses. What assurances can the officials give these people?