Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Before the director leaves, I have two minor comments which he might respond to if he possibly could. We have several targets, some of which arise from the regulations the director has brought forward. The afforestation targets are very important for us. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine famously said in recent months that the 8,000 ha per year will be a very challenging target to reach. Does Dr. Delgado Rosa believe that bringing forward this regulation will have an impact on our attempts to ensure those afforestation targets are reached? It is really important to us that we get our afforestation programme back up and running. Does he believe the proposals will be hampered by the issue of confidence in the sector? This sector runs on confidence. There are people looking in on this debate today who want to know how they can play a role in addressing this climate change challenge. Does Dr. Delgado Rosa believe confidence will be a factor in what is happening in respect of the forestry sector, particularly what has been discussed over the last two hours? What role does he believe the forestry sector will play? What effect will this proposal have on ensuring the forestry sector reaches its really important targets, which it is floundering to reach at the moment?