Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When I think what happened in the past, in my area we had people like Mossie Welsh in Sneem, and PJ Bruton, one of the finest foresters Ireland ever produced. These people were meticulous about maintaining the forestry. A tree would no more hit the ground after a windfall and they would have it cut up because they wanted to keep the place empty. I know there is this biodiversity nonsense now whereby, if a tree falls, the intention is to let it rot into the ground instead of cutting it, which is more rubbish and what more I will not say because I do not use bad language unless something falls on my finger. We must have maintenance. Let us call a spade a spade. What Coillte has done to the State forests is to have abandoned them. There is no maintenance. There is nobody checking the forests. Nobody is going out and seeing what way the forest is now. A forest is like a field or a house. People talk about property. A house, hotel or building is nothing unless it is maintained. It is a living, breathing thing and it must be taken care of. We have to be there. People have to be in and out of a forest or a field. If it is abandoned, what happens is that it all goes wrong. We must work at it. It is the same as anything in life, whether it is the car we drive or the machine we operate. We must change the oil, clean it, grease it and work with it. It must become an extension of ourselves. What are the forests of Ireland now? Who are they an extension of? Nobody. There are people like us now with suits, but there is no fellow with boots. Suits are not as good as boots. We must have people who know about forests and understand them. I drew timber out of a forest with a horse called Billy, for Willie Grainger. I gave a long time at it and I made no money at it, but it was a great learning curve. We need to understand forestry to know what is needed to keep it right. It is not just a matter of planting it and letting it off. I am not a critical person and I am sorry to say this, as I would love to be praising Coillte and saying it has great management structures, that it has a great presence on the ground and teams of men going out every day and working, but it has not. I am sorry. I will shut up.