Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

In response to Deputy Kerrane, I am encouraging farmers to engage with the current reconstitution and underplanting scheme, RUS, because if we come up with another scheme, they will still need to apply for a licence to clear-fell those trees; that will be part of any process. They need to get into that to be in the cycle. If they want to sit back and wait for another couple of months, that is entirely up to them. However, I encourage them to get involved in that part of the process because it will still be the same silvicultural approach. The first stage is to clear those trees and get the land ready for potential replantation. That part will be the same and that is why I am encouraging them to do that. It is fair to say we will probably have the licensing plan before the mid-term break. It depends on how many applications come in and that is how we base it. If we receive 1,000 applications, that equates to roughly an average of 8,000 ha, for example. That determines how we plan it. We do not simply guess how many will come in. That is the main thing there.