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

I thank the Minister, the Minister of State and the officials for coming back before the committee.

I am somewhat disappointed with the opening statements in that we and the sector were looking for clarity and some optimistic overtone as to where we are going with the sector. I hope I will get more optimism out of the questions I have for the Minister of State. They are five very specific questions.

I was recently at a local secondary school on the students' return for the new academic year. I was in a geography class and the students were talking about forestry. They gave a presentation and I have printed off one of the slides from it. I will paraphrase it for the Minister and the Minister of State. Basically, it states that 1 ha of rewetted bogland will sequester, at a maximum, just under 3 tonnes of CO2 per annum. Maths was never my strong point, but if a scientist told those students and they in turn told me that 1 ha of broadleaf sequesters 6 tonnes of CO2 per annum and that 1 ha of conifer sequesters 18 tonnes of CO2 per annum, then it seems a very obvious choice for us at this time. If Ireland were to do nothing else but plant 18,000 ha per annum of conifers for the next 27 years, we would meet our net-zero target and avoid the possibility of fines in the aftermath of 2050. The people of 2050 would probably look very favourably on the Members of the Thirty-third Dáil if we were to do that.

Can the Minister of State reassure the forestry sector that the Department supports conifer planting and will actively promote it under the new programme? It is very clear that only conifers will deliver carbon sequestration and climate goals, yet the Minister of State's office seems to be vehemently opposed to planting them.