Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Senator outlined, the amendment seeks to exclude the planting of native trees on peat soils. I recognise that climate change and other legacy issues have been created by the afforestation of peat soils in the past. However, we have examples of woodlands, such as birch, naturally occurring on peat soils. The types of soil to be afforested will be given full consideration during the strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment.

The Land Types for Afforestation document sets out the potential eligibility of land for support under the afforestation scheme. Unsuitable land includes a range of sites that are deemed to be unsuitable for afforestation under the scheme due to site factors. At a minimum, the requirements of the Land Types for Afforestation document will be also applied to any scheme to support the small scale planting of native tree areas. For these reasons, I am not accepting the amendment.