Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for attending. I would like to home in on a few things. The first is that, in the presentation, they referred to rebuilding trust and confidence in the State to aid forestry because they are at a low rate. In other words, we have a significant issue with confidence in the sector. As they stated, it is an issue with trying to increase our targets and where we are going. A quarter of the land is basically sterile now with no real future for coming into forestry. The witnesses also mentioned the age profile of forest owners and how trying to get young people into the sector is such a big issue. We are at a crossroads. How we can move forward and get significant movement to progress this landholding is an issue. The witnesses stated that we need to change grants. That is probably part of the solution. How many acres nationally are tied up by ash dieback?