Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Most of what I was going to ask has been answered at this stage. We heard from the last speaker another example of the frustration among stakeholders in the sector when they talk about the two Ministers. I am not going to blame any one of them. Both of them are responsible here. Every time we have a meeting about forestry, that frustration comes across from everybody. There is frustration in the committee that we have to keep coming back and listening to the same thing over and over again.

I totally agree with Mr. Fleming. We run a massive risk of hurting rural Ireland if something is not done fast, and particularly if we keep letting Gresham House and vulture funds come in here as happened in this case. As Mr. Fleming said, with your local forester or small farmer, all the money will be spent locally in our own areas. Gresham House will not care less about any rural area or small town in Ireland. That money is for its investors and - let us be honest - their job is to make money for their investors or shareholders. We need to stop any further entities like Gresham House from coming in. Mr. Fleming may not be able to answer this but in his experience, how long would it take to finalise deals such as the Coillte-Gresham House deal? I asked about this earlier today. Is it feasible that the Department did not know anything about that deal until the end of 2022?