Representatives of the forestry industry have called for a return to conifer planting as part of the next national forestry programme.

Forest Industries Ireland (FII) met with Minister of State for forestry Niall Collins to discuss the "urgent need to support Ireland’s forestry and timber sectors".

The group called on the minister to "redouble efforts" on afforestation.

FII called for a renewed strategic focus on the commercial timber business, warning that current low levels of afforestation must "at least triple" to sustain the industry’s sawlog supply into the future.

According to the industry body, the Irish forestry and timber sector "has become a major domestic business success story".

The sector is worth over €2 billion to the Irish economy, and accounts for over 10,000 jobs, FII said.

Irish sawmills process over 1.4 million cubic metres of timber products annually, resulting in €200 million in sawn softwood exports and over €300 million in wood panel product exports.

FII said the industry is built on "past decisions" to plant extensive conifer forests.

"To ensure the sector continues to thrive, FII is calling on the government to reinvigorate afforestation schemes within the upcoming forestry programme (post-2027).

Director of FII Mark McAuley said: "The industry wants to work hard with the minister and the [Department of Agriculture] to deliver the best possible forestry programme now that the process of designing it is underway.

"The focus of the new forestry programme must return to conifer planting, with robust incentives for farmers to plant commercial, productive forests that will yield valuable timber crops," McAuley said.

"Our sawmilling industry needs a guaranteed, sustained supply into the future to ensure we can build on Ireland's competitive advantage," he added.

McAuley cited international research which indicates that global demand for timber will triple by 2050, saying that the "long-term economic case for planting today is undeniable".

He pointed out that the domestic timber sector supplies critical materials for construction, pallets, packaging, garden products, and a variety of other uses.

"Ireland currently has 800,000ha of forests, which store over 300 million tonnes of carbon. FII is pushing for an ambitious national target to expand forest cover to 1 million hectares, which would increase carbon storage capacity to 400 million tonnes," the FII director said.

The FII is also advocating for an increase in timber-frame construction to "decarbonise Ireland's built environment".

"Cultivating conifer forests and using the resulting wood products creates a dual-action climate solution; absorbing carbon as the trees grow, and locking it away long-term within the fabric of our buildings, actively reducing overall carbon emissions rather than increasing them," McAuley said.