Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will reflect on what the Tánaiste said. However, as I said, the majority of licences are for felling and are being prioritised for Coillte and not for these small farmers who are trying to get afforestation licences, get roads built and get their own felling done.

I return to climate policy for a minute. While I am certainly not against it, we need a reappraisal of it. As far as I am aware, the Government has not revised the policy on increases to fossil fuel prices in May. That would be a very retrograde step for inflation. I believe the maritime area regulatory authority, MARA, will not be developed for two years or longer. We have still not discussed where we are going with a wind port in this country. We need to designate wind ports and Rosslare is the obvious one. There are clear benefits to housing in Dublin by reducing some of the capacity in Dublin Port. This needs to be seriously considered.

I know the Tánaiste is aware of issues with the N24 and I understand the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, will take a call in the morning on it. We need the N24 and N25 roads upgraded to improve connectivity for the south east and to give us some regional competitiveness. There has been no investment in those two roads in over 20 years.

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