Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak on this motion on Coillte and our national forests. I also want to commend and thank Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett and the ULA on bringing forward this motion at this crucial time for the economic future of the country.

This motion is a wake-up call for every citizen of the State. It calls on them to be vigilant and on their guard because while it is now the harvesting rights of Coillte that are being sold, if we do not fight this, there will be a complete sell-off of Coillte in the future. We are all aware of what happened in the past with regard to natural resources like oil and gas. Now is the time to fight, speak out and protect our natural resources. The sell-off has begun already, with harvesting rights valued at €37 million sold in 2011. The Government needs to wake up and smell the coffee before it is too late and too much damage is done to our forests. Not alone that, the sell-off is also hugely damaging for the economic future of our country and of our children. There is no point in talking about a jobs plan this week, while at the same time destroying or selling an asset like our forests, which have huge potential to create more jobs. Let us deal with the economic arguments and facts tonight and let us hope the Government will listen to common sense and consider the economic reality of the motion.

It is with dismay that many of us view the Government's intention to sell the harvesting rights to our national forests. Ireland's publicly owned forests are one of our most precious natural resources and a priceless part of our cultural heritage. We are alarmed that since Coillte was created, it has already sold over 40,000 acres of forest land. In 2009 it sold €33 million worth of forest, in 2010 it sold €38 million worth and in 2011 it sold €37 million worth. The national forests represent 11% of the landmass of Ireland, 745,000 hectares or 1.6 million acres. Coillte owns and runs 7% of that, including maintaining 11 forest parks, 150 recreation sites and 23,000 km of roadway.

According to the Irish Forestry and Forest Products Association, the IFFPA, in 2010 the Irish forestry sector generated €2.2 billion in annual output - some 1.3% of GDP and forest products to a value of €286 million were exported from the country. The sector employs 12,000 people across the State. This is significant employment at a time when the country is crying out for jobs. There is the potential in the area to create five times that number of jobs and to bring the number up to 60,000. Over 18 million individual visits are made to national forest estates each year. According to the IFFPA, total economic activity generated by domestic users is an estimated €286 million. Overseas visitors generate a further €138 million. These are amazing figures and any government with common sense should look at them and see the potential. In 2008, some 517,000 tourists participated in forest walking while holidaying in Ireland, spending an estimated €364 million in the real economy.

According to the IFFPA, for every 15,000 hectares planted, some 490 jobs will be created, indicating enormous potential for employment creation. We are worried about our forests, but there is also an issue of jobs and that is the issue we need to focus on tonight. Much of State forest and land associated industry employment is based in rural Ireland and is a vital part of the rural economy. We are all aware many of our rural areas could do with a lift as they will not all get IT companies or multinational chemical companies. The Government must wake up and consider new ideas. It must listen to the sensible proposals being made.

The Government has criticised the Opposition on many occasions for not putting forward sensible suggestions. The motion put forward tonight by Deputy Boyd Barrett and the Independent Members and the Technical Group puts forward a strategy to deal with this natural resource and with the job situation. The percentage of our forested land, at 11%, is well below the European average, indicating enormous unrealised potential for the State and citizens to generate thousands of jobs. A country such as Switzerland, for example, through prudent and sensitive management of its forestry sector, employs 100,000 in that and related sectors, setting a standard Ireland should seek to copy. This should be considered seriously.

No other country has privatised state forestry or harvesting rights. Higher levels of afforestation and related employment have been achieved where states retain substantial ownership or management of this sector. In Sweden, part privatisation of state forestry was recently reversed and taken back into public ownership.

These are our ideas. This motion is about our natural resources. It is about the future of our country and our children. Above all, it is about putting forward sensible solutions for the provision of jobs.

See this speech in context