Dáil debates

Wednesday, 10 June 2020

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (Resumed)

 

4:10 pm

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Conservation and biodiversity are rightly core tenets of any State response to the major challenge of climate change but what we are looking for is an overall Government plan on forestry that is multi-departmental to do all that is necessary, including planting trees on State land. That is an improved scheme, as has been mentioned, in respect of farmlands, which would take into account the time it would take to grow particular trees, and also the type of trees, while ensuring the growth of a steady supply of native trees. However, as we have seen in the past in County Louth and across the State, we have had a large number of forests with which there have been an increasing number of issues. That is likely to continue into the future.

Last week, large tracts of cultural land were destroyed on the Cooley Peninsula, with the fire spreading onto local authority lands. I commend the fire services from Louth County Council for the incredible work they did while at the same time also battling malicious fires in Dundalk. I want to mention a particularly malicious arson attack on the house of a garda in Dundalk at the weekend and commend the vigilance of neighbours and the fire services for the quick response.

Without them, we could have been dealing with a far more tragic situation. Data show that forest fires will increasingly feature in the future as we deal with the issue of climate change. We need to take steps to ensure a better, co-ordinated response to such fires. The fire service did incredible work in Cooley but it needed the help of the Air Corps. We had to wait our turn as it was dealing with other fires in other areas of the State and also encountered technical difficulties. We need a plan for responding to large-scale fires. We need to determine what is best practice. This might involve fire breaks or managing gorse on mountains. We need to ensure the Government plays its part in this regard. We need a co-ordinated response from Government which involves the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the fire services, Coillte, the local authorities and any other necessary bodies. We will be looking at such a plan at a local level within County Louth. Some discussions in this regard have already started.

We are a very small island and in responding to fires, as in responding to climate change, we need to view the situation in an all-island context. The areas about which I am talking are around the Border. Louth has led the way in such co-operation in the past. Under a memorandum of understanding between them, Louth County Council and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council have dealt with issues regarding dumping and so on. This issue should also feature in such co-operation. Will the Minister provide an answer with regard to his overall plans for forestry?

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