Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, well on presenting her first Bill to the Dáil. As I am sure she is well aware, the whole area of forestry is one fraught with difficulties at many different levels. In my view, the major contributory factor to the current difficulties is that we do not have a proper forestry policy. We have generous tax-free incentives and grants, so much so that we had to apply to the European Commission for permission to offer them under the state aid rules. It was the Commission which insisted that 30% of the planting should be of native trees. However, in Ireland, we follow the money, not the policy, and that always means some people are discriminated against while others are advantaged.

I represent Sligo, Leitrim, south Donegal and north Roscommon, where forestry is a very contentious issue, especially in Leitrim. We have a situation where forestry grants have increased the price of land out of the reach of local farmers, who cannot afford to buy it for agricultural use and must watch it passing over to others, many of whom are not from the county. Indeed, no bank in Leitrim would give money to a farmer to purchase land for agricultural purposes because the price is artificially high. In many instances, local people are being pushed out of their own home place while the Sitka marches across the county consuming townlands and parishes in its path. Leitrim has the highest percentage of planting in Ireland, at 30%, much of it Sitka. Instead of promoting agroforestry and native species, instead of ensuring we have a proper spatial forestry plan, instead of engaging farmers and communities in the process, we have thrown money at the issue. That is one of the main reasons we are where we are today. We are also here because when we transposed the environmental impact assessment directive, we did not put in place the structures, supports and resources necessary to ensure its implementation. There is nothing new in that. We have a proud tradition in Ireland of doing that type of thing.

This Bill is a reasonable attempt at dealing with the logjam of appeals. It ensures a right of appeal for people, and I support the Minister of State in that. I have submitted a few amendments, the most important of which proposes that the persons appointed to the FAC have the knowledge, experience and requisite skills to deal with appeals in an efficient, timely and fair manner. The process needs to be speeded up because sawmills and timber-processing enterprises are on their knees. We are importing timber from countries that have the same regulations in place as we do. That is just crazy. When the Bill is passed, there must be an immediate start on drawing up and implementing a forestry policy. I look forward to co-operating with the Minister of State in that regard.

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