Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State very much for her opening statement. As she says, this committee has devoted a lot of time to forestry since I became Chairman. It is the topic that has got most attention from this committee, which shows how worried we are about the sector and its future.

I will make a couple of points before I open up the meeting to members for questions. We have had two engagements with stakeholders this morning, coming from two different perspectives on the forestry sector and issues relating to forestry. We planted 2,000 ha in 2021, the lowest since 1946. The programme for Government is clearly set as four times that target. Future generations will question what went wrong in Ireland around 2020 that we had such a failure with the planting of trees. The Minister of State and I might have differences as to how we achieve our targets to reduce emissions in our fight against climate change, but we both agree that forestry has a significant part to play in that regard. As a farmer, I am deeply concerned that forestry is not playing the role it can in our battle to reduce emissions and in carbon sequestration.

Ash dieback disturbs me. There is a lot of it in my county and in surrounding counties. I have been involved in representing farmers for many years and it is the first time that I can ever remember that farmers have not got compensation for a disease completely outside their control. The list, which includes brucellosis, tuberculosis, TB, bovine viral diarrhoea, BVD, foot and mouth and dioxin in pigs, is endless. There was always a compensation package for those affected. A grant has been put in place for clearing, which has been poorly subscribed to, as there are difficulties with what can be replanted. As a matter of urgency, the Minister of State must consider giving a financial package to the affected farmers. A recommendation has been made by this committee that the very least that can be done for those people who have been affected by ash dieback is that they will have access to premiums going forward for 15 years if they replant their land. They have suffered significant financial hardship. They have lost 20 to 25 years of timber growth, which was going to be a pension pot for many of the growers. In a lot of cases, ash was put on reasonably arable land that would not normally be used for forestry. It was done by people who wanted to provide a pension for themselves and the fact is they have suffered a great loss. I urge the Minister of State to look again at the recommendation the committee made on a premium for those affected by ash dieback. I would like her to give it serious consideration.

The Minister of State focused on licences. There is still a backlog in that regard. Another issue I wish her to address is the fact that it is clear from stakeholders that there is a bias in favour of Coillte in the issuing of licences. The figures clearly show that. The dashboard is extremely informative. Committee members are very appreciative of the dashboard, which keeps us up to date every week. Last week, the licences were three to one in favour of Coillte over private operators. That is creating significant concern and we would like to see it addressed.

Another issue that really bugs me is the fact that you have to get a licence to thin your crop. Thinning a crop is a management tool to allow a crop to reach its full potential. When you get permission to plant, a management tool to allow your crop to reach its full potential should not have to go through the licence process again. We must do whatever we have to do, legislatively, to get that anomaly removed as a matter of urgency. That would play a pivotal role in reducing the delays because we would have fewer licences in the system if thinning was removed from the process. It baffles me how something that is a management tool to allow a crop to reach its potential has to get licence approval. I just cannot get my head around it. They are the points I wanted to make. I know members are very anxious to put questions to the Minister of State. I will take two members at a time, starting with Senator Paul Daly and Senator Lombard.