“An urgent review of the forestry appeals process – needed to streamline existing bureaucracy and inefficient practices that inhibit the forestry planting programme – is welcome.”
That’s according to the director of Forest Industries Ireland (FII) – Mark McAuley. This comment was part of a wider reaction to the recently-announced (draft) programme for Government. McAuley also noted the commitment to implement the MacKinnon Report.
He said that the programme set out by all three parties acknowledges the part that trees and forestry play in sequestering CO2 and cleaning the air, whilst also serving as a significant employer in rural communities.
He explained:
We welcome the acknowledgement by all three political parties of the need to deliver an ambitious afforestation plan, which will sustain existing jobs and create an extra 6,000 rural jobs by 2035. We also welcome the focus on looking at new incentives for increased farmer supports.
”It is a scientific fact that forests suck harmful carbon dioxide from the air and lock it away into their biomass,” he said.
He claimed that Ireland’s forestry sector contributes €2.3 billion to the economy each year, as well as employing 12,000 people across the country. ”These are rural jobs in a sustainable industry that is an important part of Ireland’s bio-economy,” he added.
McAuley said: ”We are producing the timber that we need to build our houses and schools. We are putting millions of euros into communities across the country. We are world leaders in growing trees and producing timber products.
“This is a fast-growing green industry focused on technology and innovation with a bright future in rural Ireland.”