Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The principle here is incredibly good. I would have suggested it. I think everybody would have suggested that we need to make it easier for small plantations of native woodland to be planted across the country. It is a shame that we have not had this type of scheme in the past. The principle is not a point of debate. The Minister is correct about that. There are genuine concerns in what the sector is raised, which are fair enough. Legislatively, it is not good practice to submit amendments to members of a committee on a Friday for consideration, including a briefing, Dáil debate and a select committee meeting on the following Wednesday. It does not give adequate time to identify potential problems in order that we can avoid them. That goes back to our earlier debate.

To paraphrase the Minister, he is saying that plantations above 0.1 ha which are part of this scheme will be included in the overall afforestation figures, but he plans to achieve an 8,000 ha afforestation target separately to this. Is that correct?