Paraic Brady (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I am delighted to see him as Minister of State in charge of the sector at this moment in time. Coming from a rural area, he understands at first hand the suffering and pain the recent storm caused to rural communities, private landowners and forestry in general. I compliment him on meeting people in County Cork recently and engaging with a number of stakeholders in the forestry sector. I believe he has engaged with many personally, on which I compliment him.

I am sure everybody is aware of the following facts. As of 2022, an estimated 800,000 ha, or 11.6% of Ireland, was covered in forestry, compared to an average of 39% in Europe. Almost half of our forestry is in public ownership, mainly Coillte. Nearly one-third is made up of broadleaf, according to statistics from the Department. In terms of afforestation rates over the past three years, 1,652 ha were planted in 2023, which is a decline. Some 1,573 ha were planted in 2024. As of this year, 691 ha have been planted. This sends out a message that what is happening at this moment in time is not working.

People are fearful of planting trees. The Minister of State understands where this fear comes from. When trees are planted in rural areas, communities are decimated. The small shop and school are decimated. There was a campaign in Leitrim a number of years ago, Save Leitrim, and there were objections to planting in Leitrim because of the marginal land that it is. Unfortunately, that became the norm and spread throughout the whole of Ireland. This is a sector that needs to grow. The only way it can grow is by putting money in place to make sure it is viable for people to see a profit by the end of the year, whether a pension scheme, privately owned business or whatever else. Let us be very clear in this House. Everybody is talking about climate change, our targets and what we have to meet. Our carbon credits are valuable, not only to the State but to farmers. If farmers are compensated for carbon credits, then and only then will we meet our targets. Let us be quite clear on that. If we compensate a farmer in the correct manner for soaking up our carbon credits for us, then and only then will people invest in our forests. That will create jobs and everything else.

There are 22,000 private forest owners in this country. Approximately 1,800 are affected by windblow at this point in time. Most of the affected areas are Sligo, Leitrim, my county of Longford, Cavan, north Meath, Roscommon and Galway because they are areas of marginal land. That is why they were planted over the past number of years. Unfortunately, we have seen the effect of that decision with the windblow.

Some 26,000 ha of land have windblow. I stand to be corrected but I believe there are about 2.4 or 2.5 years' worth of forest on that ground. I have grave concerns. Our sawmills are capable of dealing with this and I agree with the Minister of State that the best place for our timber at this moment in time is on the ground. Unfortunately, farmers are panicking because they feel they are losing a percentage of the timber by weight.

Ireland has 11% forestry cover at the moment. The national target is to reach 18% by 2050. This means planting 8,000 ha per year. We are currently struggling to plant 2,000 ha per year. We need clarification on peaty rich and mineral rich soils. The new CAP reform from Europe states that those with peaty rich land will not be allowed to plant. As we know, a lot of regions I have mentioned have peaty rich soil. It has grown timber very successfully in the past. Trees such as Sitka spruce have been grown in the soil. There is no reason why such trees cannot grow again. We need a package to be put in place in order that the soil can be replanted.

If there is a thinning licence at this point in time, does that mean the land can be clear-felled? I need that question answered. Any standing timber under a clear-fell licence should not need to be cut at this moment in time, and I urge the Minister of State to address that point. If it is standing, it is growing in value every day of the week. The task force needs to provide clear information. We have drone footage from all over Ireland and know every forest that is standing at this moment in time, as well as forests with windblow. If a forest is standing and has a licence, there is no need to cut it down because it is growing in value day by day. We need to deal with what is on the ground first before we start taking down stuff that does not have windblow.

I refer to the Minister of State's commitment to the reconstruction scheme. He may not be able to answer this question today but does that refer to replanting for stuff that has windblow for a period of up to 15 or 20 years? Will it deal with all affected planting, including mature areas with windblow? Is there a percentage involved? If, for example, there is 20% windblow damage on a mature forest will the farmer receive a full package of replanting? Will somebody who has a planting that is 15 years old with 30% windblow, all of which has to be removed, get the full package?

Will there be percentages in the reconstruction scheme relating to the number of years the planting has already grown? That is important because some plantings have not matured but are out of the scheme and will be cleared. Other plantings have a higher monetary value and can go for sawlog and so on. Most farmers will pay higher percentages on sawlog. Will the scheme balance out that growth year on year? The biggest bugbear is that the mills in this country control the price of timber. I am sure as a result of the Minister of State's dialogue with the mills they will hold the price of timber to a moderate value and that it will not decrease. The method for calculating the purchase price of timber all over Europe is by weight. Timber loses approximately 5% on the forestry floor on a monthly basis. Every other mill in Europe purchases timber by volume. After timber is purchased by a mill, by weight, it is sold by volume at the other end. If one harvests timber in Europe the weight of timber goes on the head of the harvester so everybody knows the value of the timber as it is cut by the harvester. In this country, timber is paid per weight on the way into the mills. Clarification on this matter would alleviate the issue. Farmers would not panic because their timber could stay in the forest because it will be paid on the harvest head of the forestry. This is very important and people might not get this. If farmers are paid on the head of the harvester they will not panic and the timber will stay in the forest. This is something I came up with. A perfect example of permanent deals is the fact Coillte, a semi-State body, sells timber by volume, not weight, whereas a private owner sells timber by weight only. This means any delay in the movement of timber from woodland to the sawmill will incur a financial loss to a private owner.

Before I finish, in regard to the ash dieback problem, the question of whether there will be a compensation package for local authorities to deal with some of the ash dieback along roads has not been clarified with them. I hope some of my colleagues will speak about the ESB and maintaining power lines. I thank the Minister of State for his time and look forward to his response.