Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann notes that: - currently, 11.6 per cent of Ireland is under forestry, with a target of reaching 18 per cent by 2050;

- in 2020, Ireland committed to plant 22 million trees a year from 2020 to 2040, that is 85,000 trees every working day;

- the national forestry targets have not been achieved; the level of afforestation in 2020 was 2,435 hectares, in 2021 it was 2,016 hectares, and in 2022 it was 2,243 hectares;

- forests once covered 80 per cent of Ireland’s land; sustainable forestry management plays a key role in promoting biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and farmer welfare;

- Ireland has one of the lowest forestry levels out of all European countries; recognises that: - the Irish forestry sector provides a significant number of jobs and is worth over €2 billion and further investment is needed to ensure the stability of the rural community and rural economy;

- National Forest Funds exist in over 50 countries;

- while the structure of individual national forest funds varies, the number of forestry funds has increased by 34 per cent between 2001 and 2014;

- Coillte has identified a lack of equity as being their biggest issue; acknowledges that: - while Ireland wants to grow its forestry sector, Ireland cannot lose sight of its climate ambitions, Ireland must expand its forestry sector but not at the expense of important measures around sustainable forest management;

- a National Forest Fund can help meet long-term investment needs, namely:

- sustainable resource development requires long-term planning horizons, national forest funds can shield the forestry sector against the fluctuations and unpredictability of national budgets;

- national forest funds can create increased transparency and accountability by involving relevant stakeholders from outside the Government in their administration;

and calls on the Government to: - evaluate the benefits of establishing a scheme such as a State-run national forestry fund that could help to develop the forestry sector by:

- creating tax incentives for those who invest in the fund;

- achieving climate goals through sustainable and biodiverse afforestation;

- furthering Irish-owned and managed forestry enterprise;

- instituting a short, medium, and long-term investment model with guaranteed protections;

- creating high, medium or low-risk investment options;

- investing the funds in a range of sustainable State-approved forestry project;

- establishing a scheme that could be a source of support for small farmers, environmentalists and smaller forestry enterprises;

and

- publish a report on a potential model for the possibility of a national forestry fund by 1st September, 2023.

I am formally proposing this Private Members' motion on my behalf and on behalf of Senators McDowell, Clonan, Craughwell, Keogan and Mullen. I understand we have 16 minutes and I am due to speak for 15 of those 16 minutes. It will not require 15 minutes but I have already discussed that with my colleagues.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I know she is enormously committed to forestry, as she is to many other issues, but in this particular area the right tree is in the right place, which is nearly her slogan or brand at this stage. She is a strong advocate and I want to acknowledge that. I also want to acknowledge the presence of one of the most senior civil servants in the Department; it is always great to see him here.

I will cut to the chase. This is a simple and reasonable motion, which addresses many of the issues and challenges we have in forestry.The Minister of State will be conscious that we have debated the Gresham House sale at length, and I do not intend to go into that tonight. We also had a long exchange of four or five hours with the Minister of State at the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. In that respect, I acknowledge the presence of Senator Paul Daly. That debate stirred great pride in our forestry. It also stirred something in the people of Ireland with regard to their commitment to Irish land, the sensitivity around land ownership and that wonderful resource, Irish forestry, which is unique to our climate and the climate challenges we face.

All Senators know that in 2020 Ireland committed to planting 22 million trees per year between 2020 and 2040. That is 85,000 trees every working day. What a figure, task, challenge and ambition that is. I would like to think we can all go some way to help realise that national ambition. Our national forestry targets have not been achieved. Let us not spend any more time on that. Let us pull together our resources and commitment and unify to see how we can address the shortcomings in achieving those targets. The level of afforestation was 2,435 ha in 2020, 2,016 ha in 2021 and 2,243 ha in 2022. Sustainable forestry management plays a key role in promoting biodiversity, carbon sequestration and farmer income for many. The Irish forestry sector provides a significant number of jobs and is worth over €2 billion. Further investment is needed to ensure the stability of rural communities, the rural economy and the forestry and farm sector. This is the background to the forestry motion that my colleagues and I are proposing.

National forestry funds exist in over 50 countries. The structure is divided between individual national forest funds and varies from country to country but the number continues to increase year on year. Coillte has identified a lack of capital as being one of the challenges around forestry investment and expansion. If Ireland is to grow its forestry sector, the focus must be on achieving sustainable forests with mixed forestry, by which I mean deciduous, broadleaf and spruce forestry. Coillte is pioneering the idea that when forests are cleared and new forests planted there should be a 50:50 split between deciduous and broadleaf trees. We need new schemes and we have to look imaginatively at forestry in terms of the sustainable forest in the broader sense of what sustainability means. A national forestry fund would target sustainable forestry that could yield results for a variety of investors. That is an important point. A national forestry fund would create increased transparency and accountability by involving relevant stakeholders from outside the Government in their administration.

We are all aware of the concerns that have been expressed in both Houses about Coillte's involvement in the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, and Gresham House. I will not go into the detail of that. The forestry fund we are proposing in the motion will mean citizens will be in a position to make a choice to participate in a positive social and environmental investment. The latest controversy about Gresham House, as I said, sparked national interest in the ownership of our forestry and natural resources and the enormous potential of same. That was one of the good things about that debate. We cannot revisit aspects of that deal, as the Minister of State knows. However, that debate motivated an engagement and a conversation on how we manage this important and unique natural resource, our forestry. The public debate has shown that people are interested in this intersection of forestry, climate change mitigation and national pride. A forestry fund would allow citizens to be part of the solution and to dip in at whatever level they wish. There will be a series of imaginative options with which they can engage.

The programme for Government made commitments to develop innovative forestry strategies. It states:

In order to deliver this expanded and deepened climate ambition, far-reaching policy changes will be developed across every sector, including in particular ... Developing a new strategy to expand afforestation, particularly Close to Nature Forestry and agro-forestry.

Later, the programme for Government states:

Trees and forests store carbon, clean the air, mitigate water movements, prevent soil erosion, provide habitats for flora and fauna, and provide an attractive amenity for the public. The forestry industry is a significant employer in rural communities, providing in the region of 12,000 jobs. We will fully support this sector and will: Publish a successor forestry programme to deliver an ambitious afforestation plan reviewing grant and premium rates across all categories in this area, with a particular focus on an increased farmer rate of support.

The motion calls on the Government to do a number of things. It seeks to evaluate the benefits of establishing schemes such as a State-run national forestry fund that could help to develop the forestry sector by creating tax incentives for those who invest in the fund and achieve climate goals through sustainable and biodiverse afforestation. The Minister of State has been a driver of that since her appointment and long beforehand. That key element of Green Party policy is now a key Government's policy. I acknowledge the shift in emphasis the Minister of State and her party have brought to this tripartite coalition Government. Movement has been substantial. It is commonplace in these Houses to talk about a sustainable environment and economic and sustainable development of our forestry. Those goals are not mutually exclusive and they can be achieved. There has been a shift in conversation, language and policy. It is one that I and the Independent Group welcome.

The motion proposes creating tax incentives for those who invest in the fund to help achieve climate goals through sustainable and biodiverse afforestation and, importantly, to "further Irish-owned and managed forestry enterprise".

I acknowledge the enormous expertise in our forestry sector. I know we no longer have a forestry school in Avondale. I was talking to a group of people involved in the forestry sector there two weeks ago and there is a huge excitement and ambition for our forestry sector. There is a keenness for it and a lot of young people want to get involved in forestry at all levels, from silviculture to growing nursery stock and planting. It is not all academic forestry, which has a place, but there are also people who want to get involved in forestry through apprenticeship models.They want to get out on the ground. They want to be involved. The Minister of State knows herself how she and the Government are pursuing a policy of involving many farmers. The collective result will be that much more land will be in forestry if we can get farmers to buy in at various levels. It is these collective combined hectares in forestry that will make a significant difference and I encourage it.

We encourage further Irish-owned and managed forestry enterprise, instituting short-, medium- and long-term investment models for investors with some protection, and this is important. We have not gone into great detail on the granular detail of the fund. We do not think that is the right thing to do. We are flagging an interest. It is a very general motion committed to stakeholder engagement and citizens being involved, be they urban or rural. How many people living in an urban space would like to invest and get some sort of reasonable return? Certainly they would like some guarantee for the initial outlay, bond or premium they are investing. It is important with regard to the environment and many would view it as ethical. It is a choice for others. Many of us here have pension funds. Now when we are reviewing our pension schemes we are asked whether we would like to shift some of the investment into sustainable, environmental or ethical investments. There might be a slight change in the premium but people are making that choice based on information and, importantly, choice. We would like to see a fund created that would provide high-, medium- and low-risk investments and options. Clearly it would have to be explained to those who wish to invest.

We would like to see the investment of funds in a range of forestry projects that have been approved as sustainable. The motion does not detail private versus State forestry. We do not want to get into that. We need more trees. We see the challenges and we see the benefits. There may be schemes that have nothing to do with State forestry schemes but they are approved and meet certain criteria of which the Minister of State and the Department are fully aware and support.

We call for the establishment of a scheme that could be a source of support to small farmers, environmentalists and allied forestry enterprises. I like the word "environmentalist". Somebody asked me today whether we need to speak about environmentalists. Yes, we do. We live in an environment. It is a built one and a natural one. We are all environmentalists, or we should all be environmentalists. We do not have to be pure about the title of being an environmentalist. I would like to think we are all environmentalists. Therefore, it is important that the word is used. We also speak about allied forestry enterprises in the motion. How can we embrace forestry enterprises in all of this? We seek the publication of a report on a potential model for the possibility of a national forestry fund by 1 September. We make clear that we do not have all of the answers. We have a concept and an idea of which we feel people are supportive. Again, we are open to suggestions from the Minister of State. We recognise there are demands but we would like to see something worked on.

I acknowledge the role of Senator Tim Lombard. When we discussed this at the committee he was one of the first people who flagged the idea of a model of investment and asked how we could reach out to stakeholders. The Minister of State was there, as was the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. They indicated that in general it was a nice idea. Someone suggested it was the only bit of common sense spoken on the night in question. I acknowledge that and I also acknowledge that Senator Lombard flew another flag. It is something we had been speaking about. We were wondering how we could move it from a committee room in the basement in the bubble of Leinster House and bring it to the floor of the House to see if we could get something going on it.

I thank Shannon Paulson who is in the Gallery. She is on an IPA parliamentary placement semester from Berkeley University in California in the USA. When we flagged this to Ms Paulson, she quickly went about gathering information on it. Her degree is in environmental economics and policies. She assisted greatly in the research for this debate, along with our own Robert Dunne, the Seanad Independent Group researcher and communications officer. A lot of work has been done on the motion and I thank all of the Members in our group for it.

I received a press release and fact sheet from Coillte titled "Fact Sheet, Press Release and Q&A: Gresham House launches Irish forestry fund with Coillte and ISIF to drive afforestation in Ireland". It was launched on Friday. I will not get into the detail. It is on Coillte's website and people can look at it themselves. It refers the need for private capital or any capital to do it. We know there are certain ongoing restrictions and the Department is working on them with the European Commission. I believe our forestry is something the Irish people hold dear. They believe in it and want to see it succeed. We all want to develop our targets. It is not a question of the Minister of State, me or the Government failing. We all recognise the potential for forestry. We all recognise the potential for timber in the new construction of homes, which is very important. It is something of which we should be mindful.

I have no doubt the Minister of State has considered the motion in detail and I hope we can get support across the House for it. It makes sense. It is fair and reasonable. It is fully compatible with the programme for Government. It is not at odds with any policy set down in the programme for Government. I really believe it is something positive that we can all get behind. We can reach out to urban and rural people who may wish to invest some money, equity or capital in something that is sustainable and for the future.