Mr. Mark Carlin:

The challenges over the past few years, in terms of licensing, has impacted some felling operations. Going forward, forestry regulation also needs to be streamlined. The trees are in the ground and growing, however, and supply will increase. It is estimated that it will double in the next ten to 15 years. There is real potential to grow the figure of 700,000 cu. m construction timber produced. What we are saying is that there is no impediment to not only building more with wood, but using it host of different areas as well. We are in for a period of innovation around natural fibres, including wood fibres, cellulose and lignin, in terms of packaging and a host of other substitutes for fossil-based products. The World Bank has predicted that demand for wood fibre will quadruple by 2050. It is critically important that we are prepared for that. We are prepared in one way. We have invested heavily in our forest industry. We have trees in the ground and they are growing. We need to make sure we have regulation that provides the proper protections, but is streamlined in order to be able to mobilise that wood resource. Looking forward into our afforestation, it is incredibly important that we not only plant more trees for wood and wood fibre, but also to address biodiversity concerns and loss, and climate change. Trees are a fantastic way of dealing with the carbon crisis that we are facing, of sinking new CO2, storing that in wood and wood products, and also, as we have said, substituting it for more fossil-based products. It is critically important in the mix of trees. It is important that we continue to drive forward. We are only at 11.6% forest cover. The average across Europe is 40%.

We have long-term ambitions in Ireland to get to 18% and that will necessitate the planting and growing of another 450,000 ha of forestry, so there are land availability challenges with that. We need more trees for a host of different reasons and they have multiple benefits. We are discussing wood today but they are also beneficial for biodiversity, recreation and carbon.