Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to withdraw amendment No. 2 in favour of amendment No. 1 tabled by Senators Norris and Craughwell because it more clearly achieves the same goal, which is ensuring that the information given to the Minister is made available to the public.

It might be useful that when the Minister of State indicates her position on amendment No. 1 she also indicates what the mechanisms of response will be to the report. For example, what will happen if we find that a very large or anomalous number of licences are issued within a short period or, indeed, appeals processed?

Interestingly, there is talk that there will be a report on the activities every six months but we should bear in mind that the political climate will be very different in six months time due to Brexit. My amendments regarding the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill are in respect of Brexit. They have been ruled out of order and I believe that decision is incorrect. We are looking at a situation where 80% of the current market for forestry goods and wood will be gone. There has also been a lot of talk about jobs. I tabled the amendment because next January to March we will again face crises in respect of jobs and all of those parts of the forestry industry, which will not have been solved by this Bill. This Bill will allow a very large amount of licences to proceed thus resulting in the felling of a large amount of trees; afford investors an opportunity to cash out of the industry; allow replanting where required; and, as planting licences will move speedily through the new process a lot of planting will take place under the previous regime. What happens in the next six months may shape the reality of hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest and forest ground in Ireland for the next ten years because the decisions will stand for up to ten years. That being the case, amendment No. 1, which asks that within six months a report be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, published online and made clear for all of us to discuss, is very reasonable. I look forward to the debate in six months, by which time I think a lot of very interesting facts and indeed anomalies will have come to light.