Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 13 April 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion
Mr. Pádraig Egan:
I know that. I agree with the Deputy. The point I am making is the forest management service is down to two senior inspectors and the head of environment and assistant secretary. They are the people who make the decisions. As the Deputy will know, Ministers come and go. The Minister has no power over these areas so they have led us to where we are. That is the elephant in the room. We need that to change. The decision-makers have to be changed. They have proven over recent years to this committee and to everyone here who has asked them questions that they are not able to adapt. I mentioned the habitats directive because they are not able to adapt to the rules.
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