Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will quote directly from the climate action plan, which states: "Afforestation is the single largest land-based climate change mitigation measure available to Ireland." That means that this is incredibly important and that we have to get it right if we are to have any hope. The plan states that land use, land use change and forestry, LULUCF, emits a net total of 4.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year, although there is work still to be done on those figures. We are entering a period of carbon losses from forestry as harvesting outstrips growth and regrowth. We have missed our targets since 1996. There is something fundamentally wrong here. The State needs to lead from the front on this. What is the current backlog for licensing? How many hectares have the State and its agencies planted this year?

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