Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's commitment, and that of the Government, but I think she is missing the urgency of this situation. We declared a climate emergency over a year ago. We have a biodiversity crisis and we have a serious problem with the way we proceeded with planting trees in Ireland, particularly Sitka spruce, although I am no expert. I know from sitting on the Committee of Public Accounts for five years the problems that emerged when the reports came before us. I am not laying blame; I am just asking that we learn and go forward. We do not have time for what the Minister of State is proposing. A specific recommendation was made to carry out an independent review and the Minister of State now tells me there is a new national forestry programme. I know that. It was on every Government agenda, including that of the previous Government. I am asking the Minister of State to recognise the problems that exist as a result of successive Governments following a policy of planting the wrong trees, particularly in view of the challenges we are facing.

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