Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

recognises that:

— the Irish forestry sector supports an estimated 9,400 jobs directly and indirectly with economic value of over €2 billion per annum;

— the forestry sector and afforestation must play a crucial role under the Climate Action Plan 2023 in support of Ireland's climate objectives, and that the continued failure to achieve afforestation targets will have compounding implications for the ability to meet 2050 emission reduction obligations;

— forest area comprises of 808,848 hectares or 11.6 per cent of the total land area of the State (Ireland's National Forest Inventory 2022);

— of the total forest area, 397,364 hectares or 49.1 per cent is in public ownership, primarily through the semi-State company Coillte;

— despite improvements in recent years, a significant forestry licensing backlog remains within the Forestry Division of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine;

— there has been widespread concern among environmentalists, farmers, the forestry sector and local communities with the announced joint venture between Coillte and the British investment management company, Gresham House; and

— Coillte is co-owned by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on behalf of the Irish people;

notes that:

— the Government's target is an annual afforestation rate of 8,000 hectares;

— the Government have failed to come close to achieving this target; the level of afforestation in 2020 was 2,435 hectares, in 2021 it was 2,016 hectares, and in 2022 it was 2,243 hectares (by week 50); this level of annual afforestation represents the lowest levels since the Second World War;

— while this crisis has been developing over a lengthy timeframe, with annual afforestation decreasing from 8,314 in 2010 to 3,550 in 2019, under the current Fianna Fáil Minister and Green Party Minister of State, forestry outputs have continued to worsen since this Government came to office;

— despite the extension of the Forestry Programme 2014 – 2020: Ireland by two years, a new forestry strategy is still not currently in place and that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is not currently accepting or processing new afforestation licence applications;

— between 2015 and 2020 the number of farmers participating in new afforestation decreased by over 88 per cent, while between 1980 and 2019 81 per cent of private lands afforested in the State was carried out by farmers;

— delays remain in the issuing of licences, especially afforestation and private felling licences, with the Government failing to achieve its own targets in nearly two-thirds of weeks in 2022;

— the Minister of State with responsibility for forestry was aware since March 2021 of Coillte's intentions to use a private investment vehicle to acquire land;

— the proposed joint venture between Coillte and Gresham House has not resulted in increased Government targets for afforestation, and that any new planting could and should be undertaken by public bodies, farmers and farmer co-operatives; and

— there has been a severe lack of public consultation or engagement regarding the potential negative consequences of the large-purchase of lands arising from the Coillte-Gresham House joint venture on a social, economic and environmental basis; and

calls on the Government to:

— instruct Coillte to immediately halt their proposed joint venture with Gresham House;

— publish the new forestry strategy as a matter of urgency and ensure that the new strategy prioritises afforestation undertaken by local communities, farmers and landowners and public bodies above investment management ventures; and

— review their 2022 forestry licensing throughput, set in place an ambitious licensing target for 2023, and commit to meeting licencing targets for both Coillte and non-Coillte applicants.

A good strategy is one that delivers for the environment, for our economy and for local communities. Currently, none is being served. The Government has committed to annual targets of 8,000 ha of afforestation, but under the current Fianna Fáil Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and a Green Party Minister of State at that Department, afforestation rates are less that a third of those targets and the crisis is getting worse. Since my election to this House, I have been astounded by the ignorance and cynicism of those Ministers on this issue. That ignorance and cynicism was best exemplified when the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, following her meeting with Coillte last week, said this is a hugely exciting time for Irish forestry. It appears, once again, that the Green Party is not only completely out of touch with local communities but also pursuing a course that will undermine our ability to reach our climate action targets.

I have rarely seen a proposal from a State agency that has garnered such widespread opposition as the proposed Coillte joint venture with Gresham House. Environmentalists, farmers, the forestry sector and local communities are all united in their calls for the deal to be stopped. Upon the official announcement of the proposed joint venture, the Government sought to present itself as some form of observer. The Tánaiste said he wanted alternatives to be explored rather than selling land to a British investment fund. The Taoiseach said this was not the Government's preferred model. The implication was that the Government knew nothing about Coillte's intention and that it was caught on the hop. However, the Minister and the Minister of State know that is not the case. As far back as March 2021, the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, was informed by Coillte of plans to use such a private vehicle to acquire lands. Even if Ministers did not fully understand the importance of such a strategy at that point, in November last year during a Dáil debate, I and other Members of the Opposition referenced Gresham House specifically and raised concerns about its implications. If Ministers thought we were exaggerating, then the hearing of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine with Coillte in December last surely removed all doubt that Coillte was ready to embark on a deal that would see the wholesale purchase of thousands of hectares of Irish farmland by a British investment fund, and that the Irish taxpayer would be expected to subsidise this land grab to the tune of tens of millions of euro. Throughout all of this, the Ministers cynically sat on their hands. It was only after the public outcry that Ministers sat down with Coillte to discuss its plans, but not to tell it to stop. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine said he was engaging with Coillte to discuss how we can support it to do its work.

This venture is not about climate. It is not even about tree planting. For Gresham House, this venture is simply about corporate profit. The funds delivered through the venture will simply drive up the cost of agricultural land that farmers could and would plant themselves if Government delivered a workable regulatory framework. Indeed, in the past we have seen Ireland actually reach its afforestation targets of more than 8,000 ha a year. Who planted those trees? Farmers did, because they were part of the programme. Rather than disenfranchising and alienating farmers and local communities further through this deal, Government should go back to a programme that actually works. The Ministers for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Public Expenditure and Reform are the shareholders of Coillte on behalf of the Irish people. They can and should instruct Coillte to stall this plan immediately.

Sinn Féin's motion gives Ministers a Dáil mandate to do just that. However, in perhaps the most cynical move of all, the Government is not opposing today's motion, even though it has no intention to adhering to it. Make no mistake, should this motion pass, the Minister will have an obligation to enact it. Just for the record, I will state again what it directs the Government to do. The motion calls on the Minister and Government to set in place an ambitious forestry licensing target for 2023 and all subsequent years, to commit to meeting licensing targets for both Coillte and non-Coillte applicants, to publish the new forestry strategy as a matter of urgency and ensure the new strategy prioritises afforestation undertaken by local communities, farmers and landowners and public bodies above investment management ventures such as Gresham House.

Most importantly, it instructs the Minister of State to instruct Coillte to halt immediately its proposed joint venture with Gresham House. In the interests of climate action, our economy and our rural communities, it is time to do the right thing. The Government should pass this motion and enact it.

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