Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the land use issues, peatland is one issue and there are potential derogation issues regarding nitrates and more land being required for our bovine herd. These are huge issues. Mr. Carlin mentioned that the price of land has escalated over the last few years and it is only going to go one way, which is to go up dramatically. The land is not being made again and we have what we have; we are not in a scenario where we are going to make more land. There are more demands on land, whether it is for housing, agriculture or forestry, and the potential that we are going to increase our portfolio from 11% onwards to 18% in that 2020 to 2050 schedule which is being proposed, is very limiting or even bizarre.

I want to go back to the issue of supplying timber for our primary duty, which, as Mr. Carlin stated clearly, is our indigenous housing industry. At the moment, it is at 42%. From talking to those in the industry, they are saying that is only going to go one way, which is to go up dramatically, and anything from 60% to 80% is the line given. With the proposal of having anything up to 50% of our portfolio going into a parkland development style, which would have limited value in terms of commercial timber - I am not giving out and this is a comment on national policy - does Mr. Carlin honestly believe we will achieve the targets for supplying timber for our indigenous construction industry?