Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have read it, and it is contradictory. The Government agreed it last June and now it is being considered. I am glad the Government is shifting its position. I believe it is doing so because all the evidence is piling up, as is the public pressure. The Government knows there is no justification for doing this, except to meet the targets of the troika to pay off the gambling debts of bankers and speculators. There is simply no argument for this.

It is unfortunate, as Deputy Donnelly said, that we must argue this in terms of economics and finance. It should not be argued on those terms. The forests are our heritage and history. They are a critical part of what it is to be Irish. They are linked indissolubly to our rich literary heritage, and are indistinguishable from what it means to be Irish. That they should be given away to a private entity concerned with profiting from them rather than remaining fully the property of the public is an utterly appalling proposal. Private for-profit entities are always about making profit, often short-term profit.

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