Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I have heard all those arguments before. Where I live, all I see are trees around me and no people. Every 1,000 acres of forestry employs only one full-time person. I absolutely agree with Dr. Hendrick on the climate change benefits, but it employs nobody. That is the reality when compared with any other sector of farming. I never saw trees having to go to the town to buy a gate or a bit of fencing to put up. Once it is planted, it is gone forever. It is a permanent change of land use. While I understand the benefits from the wider societal point of view, those of us living in the rural areas where we used to have communities but do not have them anymore are angry about it.