Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Green Party, with which I do not agree all of the time or even half of the time, for bringing forward this very important motion. The planting of forestry is something I believe in passionately. On this side of the House, Deputies Mattie McGrath and Danny Healy-Rae and I have served our time in forestry. Whether it was sodding or opening drains, or working under new or older directives, we worked in forestry for many years. I would like to think that at this stage we know what we are talking about.

The one thing I want to see, as I have said in the House before, is a situation where it would again become attractive for farmers to plant land - not all of their land, of course, but a part of it - because having an income from forestry can sometimes help to sustain the rest of a family farm. However, the period within which premiums are period has gone from 20 years to 15 and the grant in many cases does not cover the total cost of maintaining the plantation. These are issues that need to be addressed in the new afforestation programme. Whether it is in negotiations with people in the European Union or the Government, whoever it will be at the time, it is important to bring the period back to 20 years. It is important to incentivise farmers, particularly young farmers.

Something Deputy Michael Moynihan said stuck in my head. He talked about how smart people were long ago and said that, before there was any talk of biodiversity, they knew that it was the right thing to do to plant a grove here or there on a family farm. They were ahead of their time. They were smarter than the Green Party or any other party; they were a green party on their own and did not need anyone to tell them how to mind the environment. The most important person in the whole equation, the person who cares for the land passionately and wants what is best for it, is the man, woman, boy or girl who owns the land. They do not need anybody in this House to tell them how to mind their land.

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