Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the Chairman of the joint committee, Deputy Cahill. I compliment the members of the committee present in the Chamber. Senators Boyhan, O'Donovan and Daly have been very active in the agriculture committee. All three are members, along with myself. We have worked with the Chairman of the committee on a very workmanlike basis over the last 18 months. We have dealt with forestry every month, I think. On several occasions we have brought senior members of the Executive before us, including the Secretary General of the Department, assistant secretaries and the Minister of State herself.

How we get moving on this issue has been a real challenge for the committee. We published the report 11 months ago with 12 recommendations on which we are hoping to get movement. We could have a real change of ethos when it comes to how forestry is looked at within the farming community. There is also a need to move the forestry agenda forward within the Department itself. Two entities working together can come up with a solution that can help the environment and society and also help us reach our climate action goals. Never has a conversation about forestry been so important when we consider where we are today. The one figure that always frightened me was the afforestation programme figure. It dropped about 30% at one stage last year. They are really frightening statistics. The committee Chairman said that future generations will judge us. I am fearful of what my daughters will think of us in 25 years' time going by the figures we have produced in the last 18 months. They are not good reading. That is why this report is so important.

The report, which most Oireachtas Members have read and commented on, makes 12 recommendations springing from our series of hearings, which we believe can move the industry forward. The recommendations need to be acted upon within the Department. I will just mention a few. The customer charter is really important. It is the foundation for building confidence within the sector in a solution they can work through. The customer charter has worked really well in other parts of agriculture. The need for it in forestry is very evident. System changes within the Department are also really important. I refer to basic stuff such as having the ability to track an application online. The computer system in the Department is from a different age. We need to know what is going to happen with this online system in respect of file tracking and timelines for files. We need definitive adherence to those timelines. That in turn will give confidence to the sector and to the industry so they can hope to reach the target of 8,000 ha which unfortunately we are really far off.

Ash dieback has been raised by other Members ad nauseamat this stage. It is about trying to get that amount of land that is unfortunately idle at the moment. I think it is literally growing dead wood for lack of a better terminology. We must encourage that massive potential to be utilised for climate change issues and for industrial issues to ensure we actually have timber going forward. I do not think we have managed to win that debate. The schemes brought forward by the Department have not been effective. Persuading the massive cohort of people who are affected by ash dieback to get involved so that land can be cleared and more trees put in it in a short period is a real challenge. We mentioned that in the report. A year on we need to see real movement and I do not think we see that at the moment.

Ash dieback came in because of our lack of biosecurity measures. There is fear because we have a shortage of timber that our biosecurity measures are not appropriate when we are importing a large amount of timber. We are worried about things like the spruce bark beetle coming in from the UK. If that was to land on our shores it would have potential for similar damage to that caused by ash dieback. It is in the southern parts of the UK at the moment. Implementing appropriate biosecurity measures is a massive issue for us.

The whole thing about having a single consent process is key to making sure the entire process works, as other Senators have mentioned. A single consent process has worked in other industries and in other ways of doing business. If we had a single consent process in place we would see the timeline people could work towards, with confidence coming back into the sector. That would play into the whole narrative of trying to build confidence. The potential that exists for forestry is amazing. The key issue is to try to harness that potential in the future. That will be a defining factor in how we can reach our climate action targets. There are proposals to spend hundreds of millions of euro on other projects relating to climate, such as wind energy, but this is something that is within our control. We have to find a solution so we can encourage the farming community to come on board and to move away from 30% afforestation to a more appropriate percentage. We should be seeking to reach the 8,000 ha. That is the kernel of the issue.

This report has been a positive step. It has pushed this to the top of the agenda. Government action is required to ensure the industry moves forward. I welcome the Minister of State's response to these issues because they are key issues and if we do not deliver, the next generation will not forgive us.