Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I acknowledge the point the Deputy made in the first instance. We accept there was a cut in that regard. The forest road scheme is now open for grant applications and they are currently being processed. I do not have a date for when the processing of applications will be completed. As the Deputy is aware, there is an increased opportunity for those involved in the forestry sector to use their thinnings for the biomass and other markets such as SmartPly and Medite. Opportunities exist and we hope people will take the opportunity to put in roads and follow through with thinning their forests.

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