Results 6,601-6,620 of 26,897 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will press it.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Given that reference has been made to the United Nations and the need to be in line with its priorities, I am sure the Minister of State will accept the amendment because that is what we are trying to do. The Rio de Janeiro summit in 1992 was a turning point in environmental politics by asserting the vital importance of the environment in general. The forest principles were the most...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will agree to disagree with the Minister of State on this matter. The Rio declaration may not be binding legally, but we signed up to it. I see no reason not to commit to its wording in a Bill that is supposedly setting out to develop forestry on a sustainable basis. Nothing the Minister of State has mentioned tells me why the proposed wording, which was taken from the Rio forest...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will not prolong this debate unnecessarily, but our national standards are not great and major questions surround them, to put it mildly. People from all perspectives who are observing the forestry sector would agree that this Bill should facilitate an improvement, given that we have not done as well as we should have in many respects. This is not to say that there has not been a...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The provisions of this amendment are fairly self-evident. As with many of my other amendments I do not see any reason the Minister of State would not accept it. It is an obvious, innocent and innocuous yet very important amendment. It would include "the harmful effects of pollution including airborne pollution" in the list of things against which we must protect forests. Airborne...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I do not accept that explanation. Other bodies may consider environmental pollution, which is fair enough, but this Bill specifically relates to forests and bringing to the fore issues relating to forestry. Perhaps people assessing levels of environmental pollution may consider general problems but they may not be really focused on how to make an impact on forestry. People with more...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The amendment is in line with many of the other amendments. It follows on the same line of thinking so I do not need to elaborate greatly. I want to deal with the term "multiple value" but first I will spell out one point. We should develop the industry's economic potential, tap into and realise it by encouraging people to go into the industry. Those are all the things the Government has...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have already asked the Minister of State for assistance and someone in his Department has said they will forward the documents to me for my perusal, so I cannot comment in great detail about the matter. There could be things we have done wrong, like the overuse of imported species, for example, rather than using native species, that may have contributed to the spread of disease. I am not...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Deputy Pringle has covered much of it. It is a bit worrying that, in response to all of these points, the Government is playing down the need to spell out these matters. It worries me in respect of the emphasis and priorities of the Government when it is drafting this. It is leaning too much in one direction.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will leave my comment until the end of the section.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: There is a theme that links many of these amendments. We need to develop this area. There is huge employment potential but it is a question of what the model is and what will work in the long term. The word sustainable is used so often that it almost loses its meaning. It means that something will last and will develop. I suppose one contrasts sustainable with short-termism because...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I do not think we have got the balance right. We certainly have not got it right so far and the Bill should address the failure to get the balance right. That is the logic behind the amendment. Of course, there are different management systems and different people deal with different aspects of forestry. I fully accept the point Deputy McNamara made earlier about making distinctions...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The amendments tabled by Deputy Pringle are similar. Clearly we were advised by the same source. What we have learned in the past year or two from the dispute on the proposed sale of the harvesting rights of Coillte is the enormous interest and passion that people have for Ireland's forestry. We should seek to harness that in the best interests of forestry, communities and of the country...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: There is a theme on our side in these amendments. The theme on the side of the Minister of State is that he does not seem to see the need for the amendments. The people on behalf of whom we are proposing many of these amendments, who are very knowledgeable about forests, are very concerned about the lack of transparency, accountability, public participation and openness when it comes to...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I tabled an amendment to this section to deal with an important issue. I understand it was ruled out of order because of a potential charge on the Exchequer. Our pretty spectacular failure to meet our afforestation targets is well known. We are delivering a small fraction of our afforestation targets. It is clear from the current trajectory that there is no real likelihood of a...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This amendment seeks a proper planning process in the same way as for other types of development and is self-explanatory. There is a point also, as in Deputy Pringle's previous amendment, about proportionality and excessive regulatory burden on some people. It is always the wrong people who get over-regulated, because proportionality does not work. It is the big guys who have the big...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This reminds me of the whole maritime and foreshore area. We have had a situation up to now in which the Minister, with no timeframe set out and, essentially, completely off his or her own bat, makes decisions about oil rigs, windmills or whatever it is. The Government, with the new Bill, which is only at draft stage, has said it must have a transparent process. We have to change that - it...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I do not doubt.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am not disputing that. What I am saying is that there is a problem because, in reality, most people are on the outside. Whether good or bad, they do not know what is going on. They do not know the considerations and what is influencing the Minister to make decisions. I worry that much of what is in the Bill borders on the aspirational, when it really goes back to the Minister and says...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This follows on from a series of earlier amendments about sustainable forest management and the more recent discussion about the powers of the Minister. The power of the Minister to grant licences should be subject to being compatible with sustainable forest management, which the Minister of State has sadly decided so far he does not want to put into the Bill. I suppose the appeal to...