Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Bill is being introduced so that we can try to clear the backlog in licensing applications that have gone for appeal. Deputy Fitzmaurice's amendment is in that spirit. I put it to the Minister of State that we have to clear this backlog of appeals.

The Minister of State should give consideration to setting up a farmer's charter, like what has operated in the past for different farm schemes in place. The charter put strict timeframes in place for payment dates for different schemes. I sat on the body operating the charter of rights in a previous role and it worked well.

The Minister of State should look to have such a charter for all licence applications. A charter of rights could be set down. There could be a clear timeframe so when an application is made, there would be a timeframe for when an answer had to be got. The charter of rights body would meet on a regular basis. It would also have the added benefit that officials operating the system would have to sit before stakeholders and answer questions if dates and timescales were not being met. I appeal to the Minister of State to give the notion of a charter of rights for stakeholders in the industry consideration. If the Minister of State is reluctant to put a timeframe in legislation, this could be a way of giving stakeholders confidence that a timeframe would be in place and that officials in the Department would be answerable to stakeholders in the industry. They would be forced to comply and meet standards.

We have an industry in crisis. I have visited nurseries like None-So-Hardy. It simply cannot survive another year with planting at current levels. We are not going to hit a fraction of the targets. We are going to be at approximately 20% or 25% of the planting that we have envisaged in the country and that our nurseries need to stay viable. Only for the options they have at the moment to plant in Scotland their gates would be closing.

This is urgent and we have to get it right. Deputy Fitzmaurice made a point about the licensing process earlier and having ecologists involved at the starting gate when the applications come in. That has to be done. I believe we need to bring in a consultant immediately, within a short timeframe, to examine how the whole licensing process is operating. The Minister of State should bring in a consultant and give him four weeks to come back with a report on how the licensing can be speeded up. The appeals process is simply one cog in the wheel. We have a whole draft of applications that have not even gone to the appeals stage. They are held up in the system. Farmers are losing faith and are taking other options. They are not looking at forestry as a viable option because of the amount of delays, paperwork and bureaucracy that arise.

The licensing system is not working. The Minister of State is addressing the appeals and I welcome that. As I said, I urge the Minister of State to look at the charter of rights as a way of putting a timetable in place. The whole licensing process has got to be addressed because it is simply not working. Having ecologists at the start when an application is first looked at could be a way of speeding up the process. I urge the Minister of State to bring in an outside consultant to look at the whole process and come back quickly with a report to the House.

I appeal to the Minister of State to look at designated land too. We have to increase our planting acreage in the country. We have a great deal of land subject to a blanket ban on plantations. There is evidence that different stages of afforestation in these designated areas would actually improve the habitats.

The directive from Brussels on designated land has taken away approximately 80% of the capital value of that land. If we allow that land to be planted in different stages, we could help to restore some of the capital value. In my time I have never known a directive to have eroded the capital value of land to such an extent. It is a direct attack on the property rights of landowners. This could be a way of restoring the capital value and meeting our afforestation targets as well. By providing a proper compensation scheme for designated land and allowing afforestation in a staged way we could go a long way towards benefiting our environment and the capital value of the land as well as giving farmers a viable enterprise on their land again.

I urge the Minister of State to consider a charter of rights. It would be a great way of ensuring a timeframe is put in place. We have to give stakeholders confidence again in this industry. Timber contractors at the moment are being forced to sell some of their expensive machinery to meet bank repayments. If this industry is not helped it will disappear. We have an opportunity now. This is the first stage in building a block for the forestry industry. Far more needs to be done.

We will get this appeals system correct and then we will have to work on the licensing process.

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