Recently published forestry figures portray a department that is “strangling a forestry sector it should be fostering”, Sinn Féin spokesperson for agriculture Matt Carthy has claimed.
Commenting on figures published earlier this week, and pointing in particular to the fall-off in licence figures in August, the Cavan-Monaghan TD said:
“A proper forestry strategy should be good for the environment, good for the economy and good for local communities. In Ireland, we have a set of policies that deliver none of those things.
“The forestry sector has been in utter chaos for a number of years and this government, after over a year in office, is proving wholly incapable of addressing the challenges.”
Noting that Minister of State Pippa Hackett told the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee last month that reduced licence output “was the result of a new 30-day consultation process that would be negated during August”, Carthy said:
“Forestry figures show that August was actually less productive than July.
“Licences granted for both new afforestation and felling were just over half of what they were for August 2020,” he said.
Pointing to the urgency of the situation, both directly and indirectly, the TD said:
“Much time is spent in the agricultural community discussing the need to meet emission targets – farmers are up for this challenge assuming that they are treated fairly and adequately supported.
“Afforestation can play an important role in this – but it is increasingly disheartening to see government continue to utterly fail.
“While government has commissioned a report on how licensing is handled in other EU states, this itself raises the question of, if a solution is found elsewhere, why weren’t our own department competent enough to determine this in advance of implementing those EU regulations supposedly responsible for the delays?”
Continuing, deputy Carthy warned that, when the licensing issue is resolved, government will “face an uphill battle” trying to convince farmers to enter the sector.
This he claimed was because of a perception now that “in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time if regulations change or new related disease reach our shores, they alone will be left holding the can again”.
Warning that the Department of Agriculture has “consistently squandered the goodwill from opposition and stakeholders”, the Sinn Féin TD said:
“Ultimately, responsibility for this lies with the Minister for Agriculture.
“I have written to the chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine to request that an urgent hearing be held with the Minister at the soonest opportunity on this subject,” deputy Carthy concluded.