Mr. Pat Glennon:

On top of that, conifers can grow really well on poor soil in Ireland. The Deputy's example of land that cattle would not feed on is the ideal ground for forestry. It is poorish land. I do not want to run down any county so I will start with County Longford because that is where I am from. There is more than enough land there that is marginal, land that is not good enough to make an economic return for the farmer using cattle, sheep, or whatever may be the case, that we should be planting. It is in every county up and down the country. We will never compete with the really good dairy farmers nor should we. We should not be competing with them. There is lots of land that should never be competing with the good beef or dairy farmers.

There is lots of poor, marginal land that is ideal for planting our crop.