Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I accept the Senator's concerns. In parts of my constituency, roads are founded on peat as well and it is a problem for any transport, not just timber transport but also agricultural transport and movements. However, the management of public roads is outside the remit of my Department. We try to operate the licence consent and grant schemes and to improve the communication with the public roads networks and the roads authorities. Perhaps there is scope to explore how that communication is working - whether there is feedback, whether the local authorities are responding in an appropriate way and whether there is communication between the hauliers and the local authorities - but they should certainly be trying to adhere to the advice that comes with the code of practice relating to managing and moving timber. To be honest, we are going to have more movement of timber in the next decade and it is something that needs consideration.