Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The former Minister, Deputy Creed, spoke in terms of this being a temporary and unavoidable setback. Most of us here would agree that it is an issue which is not going away. Whatever legislation is put forward, good or bad, is useless without resources. The industry employs 12,000 people, mostly in rural areas. It is worth €2.3 billion. It highlights the Government's lack of understanding of rural Ireland. It does not get it and does not have a plan.

We need to look at what can be done to try to resolve the crisis in forestry. Many sawmills are coming to a standstill because of what is happening. As someone who comes from an urban background, I am often told that I do not know much about forestry, but my constituency is surrounded by forest. The Minister noted the role that urban representatives can play around forestry. We can encourage more plantation in our parks and there is the concept of the stepping stone forest which is good for ecosystems and helps to harmonise our environment. That is something the Minister could look at outside this legislation. We need to start doing things differently.

Irish forestry policy is in dire need of an overhaul. Sitka spruce, a non-native species, is the most commercially profitable species and is planted across the State, often making up 100% of plantations. That should not happen. Their canopy blocks out all sunlight and creates a monoculture with no birds or wildlife to be found. Current afforestation policy aims to plant 30% broadleaf trees to address this. I would argue that proportion ought to be increased. I appreciate there is a commercial necessity to plant Sitka spruce but we are turning hundreds of hillsides and acres of land here into barren wastelands.

Many Irish growers of healthy saplings have been forced to shred thousands of good planting trees because of a lack of demand. It is criminal we are allowing this to happen. We need someone to act as an advocate and stop this. It is crazy that healthy trees are being destroyed because there is nowhere to plant them, considering the impact they could have on our environment and our carbon footprint. Ireland has an opportunity to plant thousands or even millions of trees. The impact this would have on our carbon footprint alone is worthy of pursuit. While this Bill does not seek to change forestry policy, it is a conversation that needs to be had.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the previous Government seemed to think that reforming the appeals process was not worth his attention. Now we are forced to introduce emergency legislation.

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