Dáil debates

Thursday, 26 January 2023

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

12:14 pm

Photo of Ivana BacikIvana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The key problem is that it is not having an impact. We are hearing from those involved in forestry and nurseries, including farmers and environmentalists, that it is simply not operational. The Minister of State, Senator Hackett, told the Seanad earlier this week that the state aid application has not yet been submitted. The Minister said it himself. He plans to go to Brussels but has not gone yet. Once again, the Government is heavy on ambition and setting targets, but light on delivery and actual outcomes. We need to see outcomes here. The Gresham House deal will not deliver the necessary outcome. It is not just us in Opposition making these critiques. In a leaked document which the Irish Examinerreports on today, the European Commission has criticised Ireland's forestry policy in a scathing letter, highlighting particular concerns about planting on peatlands and the impact on birds. The Commission has been critical of this. The state aid application which is the bedrock of the Government's proposed change in forestry policy has not even been submitted yet. It is hard to see how we can expect or anticipate any real delivery of change in forestry.

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