Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know the following would be a big move, but there is so much at stake. Regarding the suspension of importation, I note Mr. Delany mentioned the World Trade Organization rules, trade agreements and so on. Those would not affect us if we said that we will continue to import but it has to be debarked or kiln dried, which would ensure there would be no beetle in it. We would not be breaking any WTO arrangements or rulings then. We would just be specifying the classification of the product, not stopping it. Why would we not consider that and say that until we get a better handle on this, we will only allow the timber in debarked and-or kiln dried because we have been informed that if that is done, the beetle will not survive either of those processes? We could then be confident that through our task force, the Department’s inquiry or whatever other actions were taken that the processes we have in place are good enough for us to be sure the beetle has not come in the backdoor while we were ticking all these boxes. We would not be breaking any WTO rules or anything. We would be bringing in the same amount of timber, just barkless. Would the Department not consider that?