Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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53. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine given the critique of Ireland's forest programme by the D-G Environment, if the Government is redrafting the programme; where that process is at; if he will be conducting an updated cost-benefit analysis that includes impacts on water, biodiversity and environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25305/23]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I am part of the Save Our Forests - Save our Land alliance, which the Minister may remember campaigned and protested against the deal between Coillte and the Gresham House vulture fund for Ireland's forestation programme. In January we put into the public domain a leaked letter from the Directorate-General Environment in the European Commission, which roundly criticised the proposed forestry programme from the Government, basically on the grounds that the sitka plantation model is damaging to Ireland's biodiversity. Where now is the forestry programme in the light of that critique from the EU? Has the Government taken on board criticisms made in that letter?

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the new and ambitious €1.3 billion Forestry Programme 2023-2027 will replace the previous forestry programme that expired at the end of 2022. The new programme is subject to state aid approval under the guidelines from the European Commission and is also subject to an ongoing strategic environmental assessment, SEA, and appropriate assessment, AA, process.

The new programme will benefit farmers, rural communities and the wider climate and environment for years to come. The Department has been engaging proactively and intensively with the Commission over the last number of months. The Commission is currently reviewing our formal state maid notification, which was made last month, on our proposed new forestry programme. They will ultimately decide whether the aid is compatible with EU rules.

As part of this deliberative process, the Commission department responsible for policies on competition, DG-COMP, is engaging in an inter-service consultation process with other departments, including with DG-ENVI, which is responsible for the Commission's policies on the environment. This process has not yet concluded but I expect a reply from the Commission shortly. In the final analysis some changes may be required to the published programme and all efforts will be towards receiving state-aid approval, while delivering on the enormous potential for forestry in Ireland.

The Deputy had a question on the cost-benefit analysis. My Department commissioned a cost-benefit analysis on the forestry creation and roads element of the proposed new forestry programme. This analysis considered the costs and benefits of the proposals and took account of a variety of factors, not all of which could be monetised, including water quality and regulation, landscape, and biodiversity, among others. The overall conclusions were positive and confirm that spending on new planting and new forest roads under the new forestry programme represent value for money to the Exchequer.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Part of the reason for the outrage at the Gresham House-Coillte deal was that it was going to further expand a failed forestry model of sitka plantations. They are bad for communities, bad for biodiversity, bad for water quality, and bad on just about every level. They make our forestry very vulnerable to disease and dependent on a monoculture economy. Interestingly, the European Commission letter, which we leaked and which the Government tried to suppress, essentially corroborated that critique. It said that reliance on the sitka plantation monoculture model was not acceptable to it because it was very damaging to biodiversity. All of this speaks to the need to radically reform the forestry model in this country away from the sitka plantation model and away from vulture funds. It speaks to the urgent need to reform the mandate of Coillte so that it diversifies forestry and develops a forestry model that is strong on biodiversity, helps communities and helps farmers to make a just transition, and develops a diverse forestry model that is less vulnerable to disease and to the ups and downs and dependence on a single monoculture model.

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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I am sure the Deputy has looked at the new proposed forestry programme for Ireland for the next five years. If he has, and if he compares it with the previous programmes, he will see a step change in what the programme offers our farmers across the country.

The Deputy will also be aware that we have a timber industry in Ireland. He might not value it and he might not value the jobs it creates in rural areas. The Deputy might not place value on it but I do. We have to strike a balance with our forestry programme. We have a massive challenge ahead with climate action. The Deputy knows that. We have a massive challenge ahead with biodiversity and water quality. We all know that. Forestry will play a significant role in the future of Ireland in terms of our land use and incomes, whether in respect of farmers or creating jobs. I must strike that balance. Life is not black and white. The Deputy might have a black and white view of life but I do not. I must strike that balance.

I must bring as many people with me as possible. We must deliver a forestry programme that works for the environment, works with communities and works for farmers. We have learnt lessons from the past and we know what does not work. To say we cannot have any sitka spruce ever again in Ireland is, quite frankly, a naïve approach.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is about the overwhelming dominance of sitka. It is an accident waiting to happen from of biodiversity point of view when we consider the pine weevil and the bark beetle that is moving across Europe and so on. It would damage the economic interests of farmers. We can see how things such as ash dieback can happen very quickly. We need to diversify the forest model in terms of biodiversity and the economic sustainability of it. Where is the research into developing markets for alternative forest products for a more diversified forestry model? It is not happening. There is a complete dependence on the single model, which is an accident waiting to happen, and which has meant that the EU has stated that the Ireland's forestry programme simply will not cut it. This is why there was such uproar from communities, farmers, environmentalists and just about everybody over the Gresham House deal because it would have expanded an already failed forestry model to the benefit of vulture funds. That needs to change.

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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We are diversifying the model. I encourage the Deputy to look at the new forestry programme. It is far more diverse than previous models. As the Deputy knows, forestry is a long-term project. It takes decades for forests to grow and thrive. We are not only diversifying the options available for farmers but also the tree species in commercial plantations. We cannot be all about saying, "Down with commercial plantations and we will not put up with this sort of thing". That is just a nonsense.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is not what I am saying.

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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I know, but the point the Deputy is making is that he is critical of the model. What we are also doing is diversifying how we manage trees. This is also about management. We are seeing supports provided for continuous cover models, where there are trees of mixed age and species. Farmers are engaging with this initiative. It is a process. We are seeing Coillte transforming some of its monoculture plantations of sitka spruce and other conifer stands into mixed species and continuous cover plantations. Progress is being made, albeit not as quickly as everyone would like. We cannot just click our fingers and change one type of stand to another in a year or so. There is a process here. We are engaging with it and with landowners. If we give this time, then we will see a significant change in how we deliver forestry.