Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Murray. Mr. Pat Glennon and Mr. Mike Glennon for coming in here today. It is indicative and reflective of the forestry sector that we have two family businesses in front of us today - family businesses steeped in rural Ireland over several generations and very much at the heart of their local community. Despite their obvious success, they have probably been largely under the radar, so the fact they have come in to the committee to speak about the challenges and the threats they see ahead for this industry is significant. We need to take note of that.

Mr. Murray spoke at some length about the bureaucratic nightmare in licensing. We have had both the Minister and the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in here, and both of them reassured us that the licensing issue has been resolved, that there is movement and that we will see some small degree of improvement. Clearly, Mr. Murray does not have any confidence in that improvement. If we are only doing about 4,000 ha per year at the minute, it is impossible for us to get to the 12,000 ha, and certainly to the 18,000 ha. Would it be fair to say that Mr. Murray has no confidence in the process at the moment?