Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, I welcome the fact this legislation has been fast-tracked in response to the numerous representations that have been made to public representatives, particularly those who represent rural constituencies. I hope the Minister of State will look seriously at and accept the amendments that have been put down by the Rural Independent Group because they are put forward with a view to strengthening the legislation and giving greater protection to those in the industry.

It saddened me to read some time ago where managing directors of several top sawmills in Ireland stated publicly that the only reason they had not run out of logs was because of the unexpected consequences of lockdowns. Because of the shutdown of builders' merchants and building sites, these sawmills managed to remain open. Otherwise, their stocks would have run out and their sawmills would have since been closed.

The forestry industry in Ireland is in crisis. Indeed, it may be more correct to say that it has gone beyond crisis point at this time. What makes this crisis all the more frustrating and worrying for those involved in every sector of the industry is that it is a home-grown crisis that needs a home-grown solution. We have now gone beyond the eleventh hour and are fast approaching the finish line for this industry if action is not taken immediately.

Since the introduction of new forestry licensing procedures in 2019, the processing and issuing of forestry licences have been seriously impacted leading to widespread disruption across the sector. Currently, felling licence approvals are only at 25% of the required rate. Consequently, the industry is being starved of necessary supplies. The potential impact is severe, both financially and with respect to jobs, as sawmills will run out of logs within a frighteningly short time unless the current impasse is resolved as a matter of urgency.

This directly threatens jobs in my constituency of Tipperary. The management of Medite was on to explain the position. It has 150 employees producing MDF panels for use in construction projects, furniture and many other essential applications in Ireland and around the world. These jobs are vital to Tipperary.

It beggars belief that a central part of the licensing process, the forestry appeals committee, has caused significant difficulties. At present, there are roughly 400 outstanding projects appealed but not yet processed, including planting, felling and roads. This cannot be tolerated. Over the space of one week in early August, objectors stalled the production of 100,000 cu. m of timber, enough timber to build 5,000 homes. At the present rate at which appeals are being processed, it will take 15 months to clear the backlog and the rate of new appeals continues to grow. Resolving this is gone beyond urgent. This industry makes a €2.3 billion contribution to the Irish economy and supports 12,000 jobs. Keeping it running is all the more crucial as the economic fallout from the ongoing pandemic continues.

It is also worth noting that the vast majority of appeals are lodged by a handful of individuals and target forestry policy generally rather than any specific project. This issue is severely undermining a fast-growing green industry which provides rural jobs, contributes to climate action, facilitates tourism and recreation and produces technologically advanced timber and biofuel products.

The current impasse is having wide-reaching consequences. Farmers in Tipperary and across the country are unable to clear and free up their land. They cannot harvest the trees. As they have invested over the past few decades, they are losing out on millions of euro in valuable income in their farm enterprises.

This impasse threatens to cause problems and disruption to the country's pallet manufacturing sector. This, in turn, will affect exports, the house building sector and the price of housing as well as the hardware stores through the need to import foreign timber. This importation of foreign timber exposes Ireland to the risk of infestation of damaging bark beetles that may take years to eradicate.

It is unconscionable that delays in dealing with hundreds of indiscriminate appeals that have the potential to destroy a valuable and indigenous industry and cause widespread redundancies across the industry have not been addressed as a matter of urgency before now. In fact, for those impacted, it is an unforgivable delay. This situation should never have reached the point where individuals and groups can hold an entire industry to ransom. A situation like this must never be allowed to happen again. That is why strong legislation is required now to ensure something like this can never reoccur in Ireland again.

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