Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion tabled by the Green Party. The performance of the Government on forestry has in no way lived up to the targets set in Food Wise 2025 or the annual targets set out in the forestry programme. Food Wise 2025 indicated a target of 15,000 ha to be planted per year. The annual target has since been reduced to 6,000 ha to 8,000 ha. There is no doubt that we must look at the mix of forestry. There must be additional incentives for native broadleafs and ensuring forestry contributes to habitat development, biodiversity and the protection of species.

I call on the Minister to immediately address the clause in the CAP basic payment scheme which requires scrubland and other areas rich in biodiversity to be brought back into grazing in order to qualify for payments. The Government is pursuing the diametrically opposed objectives of trying to improve biodiversity and forcing farmers who wish to continue to claim payments for certain areas of land to remove vegetation, trees and scrub from it. That is the current position. We should encourage farmers, through the CAP, to protect such areas and reward them for so doing.

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