Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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I hear what the Minister is saying about enticing new people into the business. The Minister of State, Senator Hackett, stated one of the purposes is to entice farmers into forestry. If one is not communicating with anyone in any sector, it is next to impossible to build up the confidence that would make them to do as desired. Like other members of the committee, I must point out my serious misgivings about how an amendment to the forestry legislation is being introduced at such a late stage through completely different legislation and with no consultation. While I support measures that will help to increase the country's forest cover, I must take issue with the way the proposed measure is being introduced. This is representative of the poor way the industry has been treated up to now. I got a phone call from a forester this evening who stated that what has been done was done with no proper input from the forestry sector. According to the Society of Irish Foresters, SIF, only a small minority in the forestry industry were made aware of this legislation. They heard about it for the first time last Friday evening. The organisation states there has been no discussion with the industry even though there are forms available to allow for the discussion of such initiatives. I pointed this out earlier today also.

While the primary aim of the scheme is to fulfil environmental criteria and is not related to forestry as such, it is being described as a cosmetic exercise aimed at ticking boxes and making the forestry sector seem better than it actually is. "Landscaping" is one of the words that was used earlier to describe it to me. I have a couple of questions. What engagement did the Minister have with the forestry industry before this amendment was submitted? Has he targets for this measure? Can the Department tell us whether the land a farmer may wish to plant under the scheme must be used for forestry alone in the future? I have another two questions but would like answers to those three before I ask them.