Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State and wish him well with the legislation. I am pleased to have an opportunity to say a few words on this exciting Bill. This is also an exciting time for Coillte. As Senator Ó Brolcháin stated, poorer parts of the country have a golden opportunity to make progress, through Coillte, in alternative energy and forestry.

I concur with Senator Coffey on orienteering and mountain biking, both of which are major sports on the Continent. While they are not yet major sports here, advances have been made in the south east and the sports could spread throughout the country. The local authority in County Mayo allocated €100,000 for mountaineering and to open new routes and walkways in the mountains. This presents an opportunity for it to work with Coillte. Other local authorities could make available funding for orienteering, mountaineering, mountain biking and other alternative pursuits. This would make Ireland more attractive, especially given our beautiful scenery. These pursuits could be developed if Coillte works closely with local authorities and the Department. There is no point talking unless action is taken. Such action must be spearheaded and I believe the Minister of State could do this by liaising with local authorities.

I agree with Senator Carty that we have an opportunity to plant hard wood trees. These take a long time to grow and few landowners will invest in them, other than perhaps by planting one corner of a field. The fourfold increase in the borrowing limit for Coillte and dramatic decline in land prices presents an opportunity for Coillte to enter this market.

In my parish when I was young there were 400 full-time farmers. At best, the majority of them are now part-time. I do not believe there is one full-time farmer left in my parish. Coillte has an opportunity to lease land for 40 or 50 years from some of these individuals or groups of individuals who are forming co-operatives.

I welcome the pilot scheme on biomass established in County Mayo and ask the Minister of State to elaborate on how it will operate. Will he also indicate how farmers could benefit from producing materials for biomass and help expand this sector and create more jobs? Employment opportunities are available in this area. As Senator Ó Brolcháin stated, all parties are pushing a green agenda and the nation has an opportunity to grasp this. The Minister of State can push this agenda forward through Coillte, the local authorities and the farming sector.