Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

More recent plans are much more towards broadleaf trees and a proper mixture. We need commercial forestry as well. Deputy Murphy called it for-profit forestry. We need timber. Timber-frame housing is more climate friendly than cement. We need a better balance. We cannot just ridicule forestry for profit. We need a commercial forestry sector. We also need greater biodiversity and varied plantations of trees. I am very keen on that. A comprehensive scheme was announced last year and significant grants are available to farmers in particular. The traditional main commodities are dairy, beef and the rest. It is not as easy to move people over to forestry but that work will continue. I have exhausted as much as I can.

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