Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

When this Government talks about forestry, biodiversity or our environment, it says all the right things. It says all the things that people in our communities want to hear. We have the Tánaiste talking about rewilding land. We have the Taoiseach talking about turning the tide on climate change and biodiversity loss and leaving the planet to the next generation in a better condition than we inherited it. We hear the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan's evocative descriptions of forestry and what Ireland could and should be. However, while all the talk is there, the reality is their actions say very different things. We have seen in recent weeks, with the Coillte deal coming into the public arena, is the complete hypocrisy of the Government being exposed when it comes to forestry, biodiversity, rural communities and just transition.

It is not just the Coillte deal. There is also the matter of the EU letter that is currently online and that scathing criticism of this Government and its approach to forestry and biodiversity. People are awake to this now. The reason we are all inundated with emails and the reasons for the protests at the gates of Leinster House is because people can see what the Government is trying to do. They see the reality and discrepancy between Government talk, press releases, spin and its actions. I ask the Minister to listen to those voices. It is not often in this Chamber that we hear politicians from across the entire spectrum, environmental groups and farming organisations all saying the same thing. That does not happen often. That in itself should be ringing enough alarm bells with the Minister and the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, to say we need to stop this deal. The community is saying this is not right. The biodiversity assembly is saying the same thing. It is not just one voice, one sector, or one interest group. Everybody is singing from the same hymn sheet, except for the international investors who will make a profit from this deal.

It is a bad deal for the public purse, for biodiversity and for rural communities, and it is the absolute opposite of a just transition. A just transition is one in which the Government is supporting rural communities to make the changes we require of them to meet out climate targets and improve our biodiversity. That is the responsibility of the Government. Again, this is another area in which the Government repeatedly talks up its actions. However, this is not a just transition. This Coillte deal is pitting international investors with very deep pockets and who are being subsidised by the State against rural communities, and that is not how we want to meet our climate targets. Our climate targets are very important but how we get there and reach those targets is also incredibly important. If we leave large swathes of our communities and residents behind, it will lead to a very destabilised, unfair and inequitable society.

It is interesting that the Minister has said this deal between Coillte and Gresham House is not the Government's preferred option. We have heard from other members of the Green Party who would also prefer if it were the State investing in this forestry so that we do not have to go out to the private sector. Over recent weeks, it seemed very handy that Coillte was there and for the Government to say "It's not us", that this was Coillte, that it had nothing to do with the Government, that it did not know about it and was not sure what was happening, and that this is Coillte's baby, as it were. The reality is, however, Coillte was set up by the Government with a specific mandate and it is performing to that mandate. It is the Government's responsibility to work out whether that mandate is in the public interest and whether it represents what we need now in light of our climate and biodiversity crises. It is clear it is not. We have heard from Green Party members who have said that perhaps we should be looking at Coillte's mandate. In the context of this deal, however, has that horse bolted? Is the Government too late in reforming Coillte to prevent this model, where profits will go out of the country and the heavy lifting is being done by a State entity? Coillte will find the land, plant it and manage it, and international investors will be subsidised to receive those profits in 20, 30 or 40 years' time.

The question is why the Government is not making that investment. If it is financially viable and financially attractive enough for an international investor to do this, surely it is also financially attractive for the State to do it.

We have heard repeatedly about how there is a €5 billion surplus this year, so why is the Government not using some of that money so that we do not have to go to international investors but can keep control of our natural resources? Surely at this stage we have learned that Irish natural resources should be remain within the management of the Irish State. What the Government is doing is cementing a model that will be there forever and a day. It will affect generations to come and that is not in the best interests of the State.

I will address the letter the EU allegedly sent to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine about the forestry strategy. The letter is damning and completely undermines much of the commentary from the Government benches today about the benefits of this forestry strategy and what it will do for our environment and all the improvements we are seeing. What this letters says is that the EU has serious concerns about the forestry programme, the risks of inappropriate afforestation of sensitive habitats such as peatlands, and the risks and impact on areas of high ecological value, including landscapes that are important for the hen harrier and the curlew, that have been repeatedly raised with this Government. It is estimated that the curlew will be extinct within ten years. We are down to 105 breeding pairs. That is on the Government's watch. It has been repeatedly warned. My children, your children and our grandchildren will only be able to see curlews native to Ireland in books, and that is on the Government's watch.

The EU has also raised concerns about damage to catchments that are critical to the freshwater pearl mussel, the fact that peatlands are deemed suitable for planting if they are less than 50 cm in depth and the effects of afforestation on rare grassland habitats. This is a scathing letter but it is a very clear assessment not only of our past forestry policies but the policies being proposed by the Government. There are questions about whether the state aid mentioned earlier will be available to us if we are not addressing the EU's environmental considerations and concerns. The EU also talks about public participation, the level of fees, changes to that and how that affects people's rights under the Aarhus Convention.

This is a scathing assessment of the Government. While we get a lot of spin and PR about €3 million funding for this and €10 million for that, the Government is failing to introduce the systems changes that are required. We cannot address our climate and biodiversity crises with a shallow approach. We need to make significant changes to how Government thinks about these things. The unfortunate reality is that the compass of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and now the Greens continually tracks towards corporate profits when it comes to climate action, the environment and forestry. We seem to have a green-tinted Government but not one that actually makes the changes we need to see. This will be a lost opportunity because I do not think I have ever seen such support for environmental measures in my lifetime as this Government has - not just from the community but across political parties. The Government is wasting that opportunity and instead of building up a healthy environment for our communities, it is undermining future generations in respect of our climate and biodiversity crisis.

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