Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the acknowledgement that the target has been reduced to 4,000. As recently as August, it was still being publicly spoken of as 4,500. I also welcome the Minister of State's outline of the public consultation. What has been lacking to date, and the Minister of State has acknowledged this previously, is a co-ordinated, joined-up afforestation policy that fits within our ambitious but necessary climate action targets and within the climate action plan. I have spoken a number of times to the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about the lack, to date, of publication of the detailed annexe with timelines that was to accompany the climate action plan to outline how to meet the targets for forestry, biodiversity and other matters. The latest figures I have from the forestry licensing dashboard show that the total number of afforested hectares is 3,498, but it is over 24,000 for felling. We are cutting down more trees than we are planting. We are felling more trees and granting more licences to fell than we are granting licences to plant. Indeed, Deputy Sherlock told me that for every acre of forestry we plant, we are cutting approximately 6.7 acres, so that has to change if we are to meet those targets.

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