John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the news from Senator Darragh O'Brien that Fianna Fáil is tabling a Private Member's motion next week to discuss the issue of policing. I look forward to the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, being here to take that motion so that can hear directly from him the situation.

I share Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell's serious concern and vexation over what is happening in this country. There is a plan to get rid of us but we will not be silenced yet. It seems that if you go down to the woods today, the woods might not be there. They might be sold off, they might be gone. One might not have any access to them. There is a plan to sell off Coillte, as far as I can see, behind our backs. No one seems to know who is responsible for it. Is it the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine? Is it the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources? Is it the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform? Will we wake up some morning and hear on "Morning Ireland" that Coillte is sold and gone? I have never heard anything as daft, as Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell stated, as that we will sell off the trees but nothing else.

I am not aware that Coillte grows anything else. Is there something I do not know about that is going on down in the woods? What would Coillte be without the forestry? There are 150 recreational sites across this country owned and managed by Coillte. Thousands of Irish and visitors and tourists enjoy the forests and recreational parks. It is a short-sighted proposal. It is unsound and unsafe. Whoever came up with it cannot see the wood for the trees. We must stop it. We must find out which Minister is responsible. We are selling the family silver from underneath the people. We have had contact from a range of organisations including Mountaineering Ireland, Birdwatch Ireland, An Óige, An Taisce and the Irish Wildlilfe Trust. I urge those organisations to unite and combine with public representatives on all sides of the House to stop the sell-off of Coillte.