Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are ending on the button. I got cross words from the clerk for going a good bit over time this morning.

We have had a good discussion on forestry. I appreciate the participation of Mr. Gleeson and his officials. This is our sixth meeting on the subject. As I stated at the outset, that is because of our concern for the sector. We on this side of the table might be getting cranky, but we have justification for that. All we want is to see the sector exploiting its full potential. That is what we are trying to highlight and is what we have done in our report and its recommendations.

I hope that we will see a steady stream of licences between now and year's end. As Deputy Flaherty stated, we would love to see significant impetus being given to trying to reach the target of 4,500 licences that was set by the Minister of State early this year. I would appreciate it if the Department could get us as close to that target as possible. The committee is worried about the afforestation figures. In the past two weeks, only 12 licences for afforestation have issued. This has to be addressed. We are approaching the back end of the year and planting season. I urge that there be a dramatic increase in afforestation licences for the next couple of weeks. It was mentioned that X amount of afforestation licences were in the system. I did not catch the figure, but it was substantial. I would like to see a significant number of them being issued before the end of the year.

It would give us all confidence that the trees were going into the ground and that our sector was starting to get back on an even keel. I thank the witnesses for their participation. The next public meeting of the joint committee will be held on Tuesday, 21 September at 3.30 p.m., with the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, regarding the impact of peat shortage on the horticulture industry. The meeting is now adjourned.