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

I welcome the commitment to the development of Irish forestry but we are a long way from where we should be. Afforestation levels are the lowest in Europe. We are importing €500 million worth of timber that we should not have to import. That makes us vulnerable to illegally logged timber, which is bad for our economy, for the developing world and for climate change. I hope the Minister of State will commit to stringent implementation of the EU regulations and ensure the necessary resources are provided to do so.

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