Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy that the forestry companies have a real responsibility and a legal obligation, subject to the conditions of licensing, to protect the area alongside power lines so they are not at risk from trees falling. If there is any specific instance that the Deputy might be able to report, that would be very useful. It should not be tolerated and it needs to change.

I would make a wider point. There is a real issue in south Leitrim, north Leitrim and Roscommon. The nature of the forestry system we were developing was too intense in some areas, where communities rightly felt crowded out. We were sometimes planting non-diverse, single-crop, clear-fell species when we needed to go towards a more nature-based system of continuous cover. We need to clear for power lines but we also need to switch the forestry model.

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