Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am going to focus on another thing they said that was wrong and highly inaccurate. When talking about carbon emissions, if we go back to the 1970s and 1980s, when we planted trees, we were sinking carbon into the ground. We were doing what we call a good thing. When harvesting that timber now, it might be creating emissions in a way that we do not want or is not good. However, when we replant again, it will go back down again or, in other words, we are going to be sinking carbon again. If we were to look at it on a graph, which I did when I studied it, this makes perfect sense.

Let us remember the alternative. We want to build perhaps 20,000, 40,000, 60,000 or 80,000 houses a year, and we need a little thing called timber for construction. If we do not use timber, we have to use steel, which is not renewable and not good for the environment. We need to use a renewable product, our timber. I started to make a point earlier and I want to finish it. I would not have believed it myself except for seeing it. I have seen timber being produced and put together that, from a fire resistance point of view, would be every bit as good as steel. There is such a thing as a timber hotel.

It is not in this country but it was built out of nothing but timber. The steel girders, if you like, are made out of timber. It is a renewable resource. This report today is a disgrace because of its inaccuracies. It clouds the work the scientists and the people who brought out the report are doing, issuing a release like they did last night. If they were to really study this, and if they are really interested in the environment, what are they saying - they do not want us to plant trees in Ireland or cut the trees? Would they rather that we go to Scotland or Brazil and bring it in? Do they care anything about the environment or the carbon footprint involved in doing that? Their common sense has gone out the window when they are going down that road. I would argue with any one of them any day of the week, whether they are leading scientists or whoever. I would rather listen to scientist William Aird because he would make more sense. In a graph, it is good for environment to plant trees, let them grow, harvest them and replant them. It is a renewable, good resource. We can grow timber better than any other part of Europe. We can grow trees faster and it is a good use of certain types of land. We need the timber and we export it. I am proud of the board factories we have - I do not want to eat into the Senator's time - which create a lot of employment. We are exporting that. We are so fortunate that 85% of what we produce, we can sell in England.