Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with all that. I reassure the Deputy that the Department has a forestry section based in Wexford. We prioritise forestry and the section is almost a stand-alone unit, promoting what it does. The Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, is in charge of it politically. It has done a very good job in ensuring it holds on to budgets. Agriculture has been progressing over the past five years and there is considerable competition for land. Land prices now are strong and remained so throughout the recessionary period, as evidenced through leasing prices. There is significant demand for land among dairy, beef and arable farmers.

Persuading farmers to plant agricultural land with trees has always been a challenge and it has been a particular challenge in recent years as farmers prepare for expansion and so on. We can see that in the demand for land. In this context, we have been maintaining between 6.000 ha and 7,000 ha a year, which has been a pretty good performance. We intend to maintain that even with the dairy and other agricultural growth we envisage in coming years. We predict we will be exporting €19 billion worth of food and drink by 2025.

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