Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 February 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Policy and Strategy (Resumed): Discussion

Mr. Mike Glennon:

It is catastrophic. It is important to realise we are in that zone now. The Government target was 8,000 ha per annum before the climate change requirement went to 18,000 ha per annum. We have been planting 2,500 ha per annum for the past few years, so this clock is ticking. We cannot overestimate the extent to which the infrastructure of harvesting and haulage is on its knees. The whole subset of people who grow the plants is in serious difficulty. These people are at an emergency stage. That could hit us quicker than the forests coming out. From the perspective of our businesses, despite the millions of euro being put into it, we do not have a business without logs.