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

We used to have a target of 17% of forest cover from the current position of 11%, which is one of the lowest in Europe. The average forest cover in Europe is 30% but we are at a pathetic 11%. Previously, the target was to reach 17% by 2030. Now that has been pushed out to 18% by 2045 because the Council for Forest Research and Development, COFORD, said that in order to reach those targets we need to be planting 10,000 ha a year, minimum, with a sustained yield. We are averaging approximately 6,000 ha. The Minister of State says it might go up as high as 7,000 ha this year. That is still well short of the 10,000 ha. That is against a pathetic failure to meet the targets we need to meet if we are to get anywhere close to those further targets. There is anecdotal evidence, which needs to be examined, that felling is happening too early. It is happening at 20 years rather than best forest practice of between 35 and 50 years. If that is happening, even the afforestation that is taking place is being undermined by felling too early which will also slow down our ability to meet the targets.

Can the Minister of State confirm that the ESB imports 40,000 utility poles a year? We cannot even provide poles for the ESB, another indication of our failure in this area. That is how poor our forestry sector is. What will we do to ramp it up?

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