Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister of State the very best in her new position. Some 12,000 jobs are at risk, all in rural Ireland.

Forestry and timber are critical for anyone who cares about rural development and rural jobs. There are 500 jobs on the line in GP Wood in Enniskeane and its associated companies, where hours are being reduced next month. Forestry is an industry worth €2.3 billion. The industry estimates that 2 million tonnes of timber are held up in appeals and the licensing application process in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. That is enough timber to build 100,000 houses. Timber shortages are close at hand. There will be an immediate problem for Ireland's house building programme when timber starts to run short. Imports are expensive and difficult to come by, with strong demand for timber worldwide. GP Wood has managed to source some supplies, which will start arriving next month, but doing so goes against everything GP Wood stands for - shipping across Europe, the environmental impact and supporting jobs outside Ireland.

The appeals debacle is holding up many afforestation projects. Farmers are the collateral damage. They are stuck in the middle because they cannot plant or harvest. The Government, including the Green Party, cannot hit its tree planting targets during this situation. The delays are killing the tree planting programme, with only 2,500 ha to be planted this year even though the Government's target is 8,000 ha per annum. The impact on our climate change goals is significant. Tree planting is a key weapon in the fight against climate change. The difference will be millions of tonnes of CO2 left in the atmosphere because trees have not been planted to soak it up.

We need to be using more wood. The way to get it is to plant our own forests and stimulate more wood usage in our built environment.

It is critical that the forestry appeals committee, FAC, legislation be implemented quickly and backed up by resources. The Department must be ready and able to implement the reforms contained in the Bill immediately upon its approval by the Oireachtas. There can be no delays in making that happen. Will the Minister of State assure us that it is under way and will be in place in the coming days? The fee is a critical aspect and must be introduced immediately. The Minister must ensure that all necessary resources are in place in the FAC to make the reforms work. The legislation is no good unless people are hired to enable an increase in the FAC's output. We understand that the FAC is in the process of hiring additional personnel. It is critical that this happen immediately and that the numbers are sufficient. An extra ten people are needed. The FAC should target getting through at least 20 appeals per week instead of the current 20 appeals per month.

The concept of the FAC meeting in division is critical. Running multiple divisions in parallel will achieve the necessary throughput. The other important reform is the removal of an automatic right to an oral hearing. The FAC should decide that oral hearings are only required in a small minority of cases.

In the longer term, we need to move away from this forestry licensing system and change the regulatory model. It should not be necessary to apply for a new licence at each stage of the process. Doing so is a waste of time and resources and inhibits the sector's development. In other countries, there is a greater reliance on forestry management plans that are approved, implemented and monitored. It is a much more efficient system.

Our Department has failed the industry badly. The industry is coming through the Covid-19 crisis well, yet it is being damaged by our own failure to provide an adequate regulatory platform. Without the right platform, the industry cannot grow and prosper. Like many colleagues, I am disgusted to think that people as far away as Dublin can object to a forestry being felled in west Cork even though they do not know what they are on about or where the place even is. There must be some kind of reform to stop that happening, and I hope that our amendments to that effect will be accepted.

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