Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is interesting that the Deputy referred to the target and said that the incentives are not adequate. We have ambitious targets. We have put aside €108 million from Exchequer funding for afforestation. We have all sorts of lobby groups and so on pulling against us. We need to be on message here. This morning I attended the launch of a conference on Irish forestry in the bioeconomy in Enfield. Yesterday, I visited Kilkenny for the inaugural RDS Teagasc farm forestry award. We are doing everything we can to promote it. There are so many interest groups which do not want to see afforestation and who misconstrue all of its benefits. If people pull together on this, we can achieve it. The midterm review is indicating that we will reach 30% of the overall plantation figures that will be broadleaf, so it is beginning to work.

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