Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Our objective is to go from a situation whereby only approximately 10% of the country is under forest to get up to 18%, which will almost double the amount of the country that is afforested. That will require the State, through Coillte, to plant more forests, particularly on public land. It will require farmers to plant more trees. It will require private investment, which can of course come from anywhere, including from domestic Irish investment funds. That said, the people who can make the biggest difference here are farmers. They own most of the land in the country. By getting involved in forestry they can make the biggest difference. That is why, under our new forestry programme, we are trying to make it much more attractive for farmers to do so by keeping the single farm payment, providing 20 years of premiums instead of 15, providing tax-free income at the end of it in many cases, and a 33% increase in premiums.

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