Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I listened to what the Minister of State said about the problems in environmental law. It is sad to say that farmers who were interested in planting have gone away from it because of a failure in the Department for seven or eight years, and that is the reality. Unfortunately, from what Mr. Delany said about environmental law and the different situations, and he tried to take the positive view, I fear, and farmers will hear this, that they will not opt for this. They will go for the acre or hectare Mr. Delany is talking about and that will solve a certain issue and will tick a box for Ireland that we planted so much, but it will not fix the shortfall that will come in 2040 to 2045 for the sawmills and that will actually cause loss of employment. I worry that the same people have been guiding the same Department for the past six or seven years while that has been looked at and this lacuna or hole is going to happen in 2045, for which the people of Ireland will suffer because the trees will not be there. It is a sad thing to have to say but that is my reflection on it.