Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The purpose of the mid-term review is to take stock of the forestry programme and analyse why the established targets were not being met, the extent to which they were not being met and the measures necessary to ensure we get back on track in meeting the targets. This is the context of the mid-term review and what it has primarily been about; it is not a fundamental reappraisal of the forestry policy at all.

I hear the point the Deputy makes. Nobody who is tuned in to this debate is unaware of the issues he talks about. There is a positive side that rarely attracts attention, however. The Deputy mentioned Masonite Ireland. That is part of the story but not the full story, however. There is the question of partial afforestation and the ability of farmers to continue to farm the rest of their land. It is not necessarily a matter of selling up and allowing the land to be planted by somebody else, be it a local buyer or an outsider. One must be careful about interfering in the market and with people's right to extract the best price when they decide to sell their holding. There are issues to be addressed but there is a positive story that can be sold. Notwithstanding what the Deputy says, Leitrim does not have the highest rate of afforestation in the country.

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