Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ireland has experienced a major crisis in its forestry licensing system in recent years. The crisis has been caused by a number of factors but is mainly driven by a lack of support at Government level, including a lack of funding for the regulatory agency responsible for managing the country's forests. A shortage of skilled staff and a backlog of applications for forestry licences has led to long delays in the processing of applications. Many people have been left in limbo as they wait for their licences to be approved.

The recent revelation that the State forestry body, Coillte, has formed a partnership with a British investment fund, Gresham House, which will entail the transfer of the ownership of Irish land to that entity has rightly attracted quite a deal of criticism. We now understand that the first transfer of 12,000 ha has already occurred. I am totally opposed to the proposed sell off of 123,000 acres of Irish land to Gresham House, an investment fund based in the UK. The proposal to sell Irish agricultural land equivalent to the size of over 1,500 average farms or 50,000 football pitches could see the average price of an acre of land for forestry rise from €5,000 to €9,000. This will price many Irish farmers out of the market. Furthermore, this land will most likely be used to plant profitable monocultures of Sitka spruce instead of native Irish broadleafs which are vital for biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Once this land is gone, it is gone forever. It is wrong to sell off large tracts of land to international corporates and vulture funds which are only interested in making fast profits from destroying nature and our beautiful countryside. Ireland needs more native woodlands and sustainable forestry, not more mass plantations. Rural Ireland needs balanced afforestation that protects communities, farmers and biodiversity. Large-scale corporate-owned plantations will accelerate the destruction of liveable communities and nature.

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