Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. It is a special day for her for a range of reasons. She is the Minister of State, and as someone said earlier, very few Senators become Ministers. She is also a Green Minister of State. That is very significant and will be a central part of my contribution.

I will begin by thanking a few people. I thank the Library and Research team, which has had great difficulty with this Bill. It wrote to us yesterday to say it was not able to present us with a paper because it had not had the time and did not have the Bill. It is a disgrace that part of our Oireachtas sent out a memorandum yesterday stating that it could not do a spotlight on major legislative work. The legislation was also presented very late. That is not acceptable and the Minister of State should not stand over it with her Green and environmental credentials.

I particularly thank the Just Transition Greens. The Library and Research Service sent us only four submissions that it could identify externally, rather than from the Department. There was no facilitation from the Department but through public commentary in newspapers the service was able to ascertain that the Just Transition Greens, An Taisce and others had made submissions and it circulated them. Why has the Department failed in this regard? Every day, I have made contact with the Department and written emails, which I am happy to make available to the Minister of State and the House, requesting the public consultation.

We talk of the magic number 8,888, which is the number of submissions the Department tells us were made. Is it not funny that it should fall on that number? I knew that Green Party councillors, Deputies, Senators and city and county councillors had made submissions. However, the Minister of State did not choose to share them with us and the Department refused to do so. We received an email which stated that if we wanted a specific submission, we could have it. I wrote back immediately and asked the Department to provide an index of the submissions. The Minister of State's secretary said in an email that he had passed it to a higher level within the Department and could do no more.

This is, quite frankly, rushed legislation. The Minister of State opened her statement today by thanking the Dáil Business Committee for agreeing to waive pre-legislative scrutiny. That is a disgrace as well. That should not have happened. Were any members of the Green Party on this committee? Did they agree to deny us pre-legislative scrutiny?

The Minister of State is here to make a presentation on the Bill.I am delighted that the Minister of State is initiating the Bill in the Seanad, but she has tied our hands behind our backs because people closely and politically associated with her and those in government took a conscious decision not to have pre-legislative scrutiny. One thing I can say about the confidence and supply arrangement between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael during the previous Administration was that there was agreement that all legislation would undergo pre-legislative scrutiny. That was a good measure and I ask the Minister to State to consider it again. Is this a good start to a track record?

The Minister of State mentioned the appeals process, but hundreds of appeals are not even in the appeals process. Rather, they are stuck in her Department in Agriculture House or Johnstown Castle. That is disappointing. Let us not shoot the person who wishes to appeal. The Green Party has a track record of supporting NGOs undertaking environmental work and lobbying. That is how the Green Party was formed and many of its members are involved. Friends of mine in An Taisce in Dún Laoghaire are members of the Green Party. Despite that, the Minister of State has somehow been pushed out by this Administration to introduce a charge. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil had a confidence and supply arrangement for the past four years. Not once did they decide to impose a charge, but when Senator Hackett became the Green Party's Minister of State, they pushed her out. She must now fight an internal battle with her party. This is a litmus test of how the Green Party will support environmentalists and NGOs, stand behind the Aarhus Convention, support the principle of justice associated with environmental matters, and support the environmental pillars that validly wish to make a submission. Submissions are not all negative. The Minister of State can make a positive submission.

I sought and got support from some Green Party Members in both Houses when I sought, with great difficulty, to abolish the €20 fee for city and county councillors when making submissions. The Minister of State's party strongly opposed any fee associated with the Freedom of Information Act. I commend it on that. I commended her party when it stood firm and stopped any fee for its councillors across the country, those who helped to get her elected to the Seanad. We supported them. I have many emails from them thanking me for my work in that regard. Put this Bill against all of that. I received an invitation to attend a meeting on Saturday. I thank those who are listening - I was pleasantly surprised. That is important to say.

The Irish Timber Growers Association, ITGA, made valid submissions on this process. The Minister of State has argued that she wants to streamline the process with the planning regime. Did she consider exploring the possibility of an environmental or forestry arm of An Bord Pleanála? The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has failed. This is not about people objecting. To the Minister of State's credit, she said that there were historical issues. However, she has been put to the fore to break ground and push out the charge. Why is there not a sub-division of An Bord Pleanála that has the skill set and the independence from her Department to arbitrate on and consider planning issues?

I acknowledge the help and support given by Mr. Tony Lowes from Friends of the Irish Environment to many Senators in respect of this Bill. I have mentioned An Taisce, which I also thank. I do not know how many people read today's article in The Irish Timesabout Mr. Jim McCaffrey, but I recommend it. His land is surrounded and blacked out by 60 ft spruce trees. Communities in Leitrim have been wiped out by forestry and German pension funds coming in and buying up land. I have spoken to farmers who have tried to increase their landholdings only to find they cannot buy any.

We will have a great deal of time to tease out this Bill, and I intend to use every minute of it to get my points across. During my research on the legislation, I was advised to read a book, entitled Forestry in Ireland: A Concise History, by Dr. Niall O'Carroll. I was reminded of the great Charles Stewart Parnell of Avondale, Sir Horace Plunkett, a Senator in the 1920s, Mr. Art O'Connor, the Minister in 1919 who introduced the Forestry Act, Mr. Seán MacBride, Mr. Erskine Childers and, indeed, Mr. Charles J. Haughey for his commitment to Irish forestry, particularly through the saga of the court cases concerning the great woods of Shillelagh.I will send a link to everyone today about the book because it shows its importance. The Minister of State spoke on the radio the other day about planning a trip to the None-So-Hardy nurseries, which over the last three years have had to shred 5 million trees, half of them oak trees. What a shame. I support a thriving forestry sector and a successful pallet manufacturing business. I support related jobs in the forestry sector. I want less reliance on imported timbers because I know the health issues, the beetle, and the disease that comes from imported timbers. I want to grow our forestry. I want to support silviculture, forestry schools and forestry training. I want a vibrant horticultural forestry nursery stock.

I am in favour of the bulk of what the Minister of State is talking about. I accept that there is a need for significant reform in this area and we need to support that. I want a forestry sector that is kinder to nature and works closer to nature. I want an end to the monoculture of planting particular species that has decimated our waterways, landscape and communities, and impacted in a negative way on our people. I do not think we are that far off and I do not want the Minister of State to take this personally, because I really want to support it.

I wrote to the Minister of State about the Mackinnon report and she replied. I asked for an independent chairman and the Minister of State wrote back to suggest that it would be a matter for the Department. If we are going to roll out the recommendations of the Mackinnon report, let us have an open and transparent chairperson or director driving those recommendations. Let us not fill it from within the Department. The Minister of State suggested it is a matter for the Department. I call on her to give some reassurance that it will be independent. I thank the Minister of State and look forward to participating in every aspect of this legislation.