Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat for that comprehensive response. While I welcome the new terms of Ireland's €1.3 billion forestry programme and strategy, for me, the Government must be aware that there can be an excess of a good thing in our rural areas. As already stated, we must balance both the concerns and needs of a community against our environmental commitments. Creating new forests in Ireland is crucial in the context of our commitment to achieve our climate action targets. Our afforestation targets certainly need to increase from 11.6% to 18%. We need to ensure that forests are evenly distributed across the country in order to prevent blanket forestry. In this instance, we need to consider that there is already a solid block of more than 200 ha of forestry here in a small area. My concern is that this is not being factored in. The Government needs to ensure that this is within the recommended national average. We do not want a blanket of trees over the west and north west. It is really important that we acknowledge that some lands may be more suitable for forest than others, but we need to ensure that there is equitable and even distribution across the country.

I again ask that the concerns of the residents of Craggagh be brought back to the Department. We should be encouraging farmers because they are at the centre of the Government's new strategy in terms of their commitment to plant trees. It should not be just left to foreign pension investment funds that are buying up large swathes of land to make a quick buck at the behest of the local community. The concerns of the people of Craggagh are extremely important. I look forward to further engagement with the Minister of State, Deputy Hackett, and her officials in the weeks ahead.

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