Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Irish Farmers Association, Farm Contractors Ireland and many farming families are outside protesting today because they are not allowed to cut timber. The price of timber for contractors and people building houses has gone through the roof. Will the Taoiseach please ensure that the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, takes her hands off the steering wheel and allows the farmers who committed to put in forestry - and the contractors who have millions of euro worth of machinery to do business - to provide the sawmills with timber and provide people with timber to roof their houses and everything else? We are importing timber, which is nonsensical.

The Minister of State was not elected to government; she was appointed to the Cabinet and she is hell-bent on destroying this sector. The Taoiseach sacked Deputy Cowen, who would have done something for rural Ireland, as Minister. This has gone beyond a joke. A Bill was passed in the House last year and it has been useless, toothless and fruitless. We need action because nobody will plant a tree if they are going to be blackguarded in this way. They are waiting for felling licences but there is a backlog in the Department. This is what I call State terrorism. The State is blackguarding these people who made commitments. The Taoiseach needs to do something about it.

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