Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The afforestation rates we need are going to be higher than that. This is complex. When you go into the detail of it, we have to account for farming and agriculture but we also have to account for land use. It is a slightly different category but it is connected obviously. We have learned that the forestry put in over the past four or five decades was in peaty soil where there is a release of carbon. It is not a sink. We will be clear-felling it in rapid fashion, which means that sink of forestry would turn into a larger source than we expected. We are going to have to go further.

Returning to what I said earlier, critical in any changes we make is the key metric of getting an income to farmers and foresters so that young people can see a future for themselves to be part of the climate solution and get paid well for it. The sort of discussions I am having with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and other Ministers are on how we make sure we make this change in a way that works for our people as well as for the environment.

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