Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Most of the points have been made on good forest practice. The Minister of State referred to our having a national forest standard. Where did that come from? Who developed it? The Minister of State says it will develop over time, that it can evolve, but it seems to be self-generated now and all the stakeholders do not have real input.

Environmental groups have pointed out to me that the standards proposed at the Rio Earth Summit are the best we have come up with to date. While it may evolve from there, a self-generated standard, probably developed by the Department, is not as good as something that was generated at the most important environmental summit ever held, with much greater levels of input. That is the point of this and other amendments. We need a higher standard based on more consultation, expertise and knowledge.