Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The fund will not seek to purchase any public lands and any land purchased by the fund, whether it is an existing forest or bare land, will already be in private ownership.

Despite Deputy Boyd Barrett again repeating inaccurately that the fund could plant up to 100,000 ha of new forests, I want to clarify that this fund will plant roughly 3,500 ha over a five-year period, meaning an average of approximately 700 ha per year. Deputy Boyd Barrett has consistently repeated a figure that is over 28 times the area that will actually be planted by this fund, and this level of misinformation really does not serve anyone.

As the Taoiseach said earlier today on the floor of this House, the fund is not the Government’s preferred model to reach its afforestation targets. This is one small model of afforestation, representing less than 1% of our overall target for 2050. The Government’s preferred model of afforestation is one where farmers plant trees on their land, which is why we have designed the new forestry programme in a way that will pay farmers 33% more in annual premium payments than any other landowner, on top of the basic income support for sustainability payment, which non-farmers will not receive.

That said, Coillte, as our State forester, has an important role to play in contributing to afforestation targets, alongside farmers. There is enormous potential for Coillte to establish new native woodlands for biodiversity on lands already in public ownership and suitable for forestry. Coillte is already working closely with local authorities and State bodies to identify such land. Coillte and Bord na Móna planting native woodlands on former industrial cutaway peatlands is a great example of this approach. Coillte is also planting new native woodlands through the not-for-profit Nature Trust. I know the Tánaiste has said we should examine the possibility of the State purchasing land for Coillte to plant further native woodlands. This is something I am open to, as well as a wider Government discussion over the coming months around what it is we want from Coillte, to ensure that it delivers for climate, nature, water quality, wood production, people, the wider economy and rural economies.

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