Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a few questions and observations for Mr. Gleeson and the other officials. I want to elaborate on a point made by Deputy Kehoe about an amnesty. I can appreciate that the Secretary General of a Department wants to avoid the High Court if at all possible. It it is a very bad place for any Department or individual to go.

I refer to thinning licences. It is an operation that is done to allow a crop to reach its full potential. To me, it does not make sense that people have to apply for a thinning licence. People have planted their plantations and in order to allow them to mature properly thinning is part of that process. If we could take thinning licences out of the equation it would be a great help for us to get to the endgame. One could make a very logical case for not having to apply for licences for thinning because all that is being done is allowing a crop to reach its proper potential.