Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am very heartened by the amount of support we have received from across the parties and the passion behind the contributions. The reason for the motion is to build that sense of consensus and to create a sense across all the Departments that we need a wood-first approach. I want to reiterate the importance for both the housing crisis and the climate crisis of getting this right and putting a sense of urgency at the core of this. It is almost as if we need to learn again what wood can do in this country. The use of wood in construction is nearly as old as time itself, from simple tools to more complex structures, and society has almost developed around wood. Yet, as Senator Martin said, Ireland has a relatively small amount of forestry cover. That is shifting under the Minister of State but the way to really shift it is to create multiple uses for the product itself in recreation, for nature, for biodiversity and for construction.

Senator Dooley raised a really important point around the importation of wood. The industry is calling out for local wood supply. This kind of policy would ensure that happens. It would support the industry itself and also support jobs.

Senator Lombard made a really interesting point on multistorey buildings, to which the Minister of State also referred. There are legislative and policy barriers which can be overcome. From having engaged with the Minister of State and her Department on this, it is clear that when it comes to retrofitting buildings and increasing storeys, wood is the best product so it is a no-brainer that we would start to change the regulations and legislation to enable that to happen.

Senator Martin raised public procurement. That is where we can take a leading role as a government and as a state and show that there is demand. The creation of demand is important in any kind of industry in order for people to make a long-term investment in something. We have seen that with our retrofitting programme. The long-term ten-year plan for the national retrofit programme meant that we could get people skilled up and that there could be private investment and therefore we could see a ramping up. Again, the forestry sector needs to see that. Unless there is a long-term plan, we cannot get people skilled and we cannot get the kind of investment we need.

I thank the Minister of State for her time today and for putting her energy behind this project. I agree with Senator Boylan that it is important to have the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on board with this. I can see today that the Government is on board with it. This has gone through the Cabinet. That we have support from across the different Departments to get this going is an important point. There is a sense of urgency around climate not just from ourselves but also across society in general. People must understand fully that wood can play a key part in bringing down our emissions because it sequesters carbon. There is also a key concern around the housing crisis and our approach in tis regard will provide faster, cheaper and warmer homes. It ticks all those boxes. As I have said, it is a no-brainer.