Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will not use the full eight minutes. It is an understatement to say that forestry is an important sector in our economy. Many jobs depend on it. It also has a serious knock-on effect on our climate ambitions. We know our forests are going to play an important role in the fight against climate change. It is important not to overstate that. We are facing a significant challenge as we seek to get as close to zero emissions as possible. Some hard-to-escape emissions will need to be compensated for with removals from forests. The land use, land-use change and forestry, LULUCF, sector is currently a net source of emissions so we face a major challenge to get that down.

The climate action plan, which was released recently, highlighted:

For example, planting a hectare of forest today, will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as the trees grow, but will deliver most of its sequestration potential in the period after 2030.

As such, the failure in afforestation today will not only affect our ability to meet our 2030 target, but will have further implications after that. Part of the effort to get emissions down will have to involve planting trees in the right place. In a climate action plan briefing last week, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, informed us that we will need to stop planting on mountains and on peaty soils and instead move planting down to the lowlands.This is a very welcome move.

I do not think anybody will be surprised to hear that significant issues continue in the applications for the licences. Members will remember the heated debates of last year as the agriculture appeals (amendment) Bill made its way through these Houses. Unfortunately, the crisis in the licensing system is continuing. I warned at the time that the draconian reforms would not be adequate to address the problems in the system. As is the case in the planning system, it is not good enough simply to expedite bad plans. Fixing the problem means getting to the root of the problem and making sure the plans are adequate in the first place. That is why it is so important to protect the right of the public to participate. The arguments that were made last year fell on deaf ears, and lo and behold here we are 12 months later debating the same issues.

There were some welcome developments in the past 12 months. I am glad to see that new ecologists have been appointed. I would like to hear the Minister of State confirm that follow-up inspections are taking place to make sure that what is being promised under the licensing is actually being carried out. I also welcome the fact that public participation has been provided for on the appropriate assessment in line with Ireland's legal obligations under both EU law and the Aarhus Convention by means of regulatory changes introduced this summer. When the Minister of State engaged with the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine on 4 August, she indicated that following the introduction of participation via the new regulation there had not been much public input. In light of the barrier to public participation presented by the fee of €20 introduced by the Department, I ask the Minister of State to undertake to remove or substantially lower that fee to ensure that participatory rights are not being compromised.

I agree with the Minister of State's suggestion in her opening statement that we need to build more with wood to create a vibrant market for our timber products and to reduce the carbon footprint of construction materials.However, there need to be adequate building regulations to accompany any plans to move to widespread timber frame construction. We also need training for the construction industry if we are to move to timber frames. We all saw what happened in Kildare when inadequate firebreaks were put into the houses. A whole row of houses was burned down within a matter of hours. I ask that the Minister of State work with her colleague in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to ensure that we end the light touch regulation of building standards in the country and that if we are moving to timber frames, we can assure people that they are built to the highest standard and are fire safe.

Regarding solutions, Sinn Féin would like to see a complete revamp of the regulation of forestry. We know the current process is not fit for purpose and needs to be comprehensively reformed. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine needs to get serious about forestry and supporting the sector. We must find a way to meet the Government's ambitious tree-planting targets and our climate goals. We need a new forestry strategy that moves away from monoculture. Communities in places such as Leitrim have been swamped by monoculture Sitka spruce and have lost their light. We should move towards continuous cover broadleaf forestry. Any forestry programme has to encourage and incentivise farmers to diversify into planting forests and there must be a viable market for them to do so.