Mr. Mark Carlin:

As part of realising this vision, there will be huge opportunities for us to create new roles, jobs and skills. There are many traditional skills that we have in operating the wood supply chain and planting trees. New skills will be required, particularly when it comes to peatland redesign and some of the nature restoration projects. There will be a need for new foresters and many different skill sets across the organisation and the sector. In one way, that is very positive but it is also a challenge because we need to attract people into forestry. We need to attract more foresters and ecologists into the sector. We also need to attract more labour, specifically machine operators and truck drivers. We are very well set up in Ireland.

Our supply will double in the next ten or 15 years. We have a wonderful opportunity to build more with wood. The sector has never been more important. One of the challenges will be to ensure we have the skills and people coming into the sector and we must work together on that. We must collaborate across the sector to ensure the skills training and career opportunities are put in place so we can realise this vision.