Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Whoever is giving the Tánaiste his information is massaging the figures. I have figures from the Department. When one gets a licence, it is for four years so if a person planted 20 acres in 2018, it may be recorded as 80 as he or she has the licence for four years. We will move on from that point.

At the moment, timber is being imported from Germany. There is a beetle in Germany and we must be careful not to go down the road we went down in respect of ash dieback. Companies are looking to other places. This started four years ago. We all know about the habitats directive. The problem is that if one keeps sending applications to the same person in the Department, and if that person does not have the qualifications to decide on them, one will keep getting the same answer. Who is going to call stop? Who is going to decide that instead of being sent to forestry officers, applications will now be sent to a person who can screen some out while allowing others in? I know more about Articles 6(2), 6(3) and 6(4) of the habitats directive than most because of their connection to the bogs. If cases are not screened out - and most can be screened out - there will be a logjam of problems. Will the Tánaiste stand over a Department which has sat on its backside looking at this for four years and which is now putting 12,000 jobs in jeopardy?

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