Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

These are the most basic untruths. Are they asleep at the wheel? They will hear about it from their electorate, when they go back. It is shocking that they will not allow timber to be cut. We will bring forward Private Members' legislation to deal with an issue with afforestation. There are people, who in good faith, enter 25-, 30- or 40-year cycle, with the expectation that they could harvest their crop. When people sow their potatoes, beet when we had it, wheat, barley, miscanthus, or any other crop, they have a right to have the expectation to cut it. I want the same thing for forestry, as well as to get rid of the legions of inspectors that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is recruiting. The Minister of State, Senator Pippa Hackett, is playing mind games with people who are trying to harvest their timber to build houses. We are talking about Housing for All and we cannot cut a stick.

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