Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In trying to please everybody we are in danger of doing our economy and our social fabric serious damage. This is not a crude debate between the economic needs of various sectors of society and environmental and social considerations. It is more involved than that. Foresters have spoken to me about needing to thin their forests but being unable to do so. This has an environmental impact. Biodiversity on the forest floor is impacted because there is less light. There is a greater risk of trees falling due to wind. It may seem laudable to lodge objections based on environmental concerns or the quality of people's social lives if trees are growing near them, but these issues have had unforeseen consequences. I will conclude by saying that I support the need for annual reports. That is part of the transparency which is necessary in this whole area. However, I hope that in the course of today's debate we will get reassurance about the time it will take for normal business to resume. Large and small players are being affected by the current situation.