Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for all the positives, with which I have no difficulty, but the Commencement matter was intended to ask her to establish a national forestry authority. There was no mention of such an authority in the response, which is what the Commencement matter focused on. It was a simple question of a few lines. Is the Minister of State supportive of the principle of looking at establishing a national forestry authority? Again, I acknowledge the positivity of all the key points she made and I acknowledge Teagasc, which yesterday published its Forestry Programme 2023-2027 information meetings, which will start on 10 October and run to 19 October, throughout the country. Clearly, the agency is active on the ground and a number of these workshops will be held throughout our community. I intend to go to some of them and I hope other Senators will too, because they are very important.

This is a positive start and I want to start being positive. I do not want to be negative all the time. The Minister of State should believe me when I say I am committed to this forestry sector. Will the Minister of State outline whether there is even remote support for the establishment of a national forestry authority?