The Minister is trying to run down the clock.

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — the Irish forestry sector supports an estimated 9,400 jobs directly and indirectly with economic value of over €2 billion per annum; — the forestry sector and afforestation must play a crucial role under the Climate Action Plan 2023 in support of Ireland's climate objectives, and that the continued failure to achieve afforestation targets will have compounding implications for the ability to meet 2050 emission reduction obligations; — forest area comprises of 808,848 he…

Why is the Minister of State supporting the motion, then?

None.

Wake up now Charlie.

The Chair is looking in the wrong direction.

The Minister and Minister of State tonight tell us a narrative that a deal engaged in by Coillte with a British investment fund is essentially something they can do nothing about. They say they cannot instruct Coillte to stop the deal even though they do not like it or, to use their term, it is not their preferred option. That is not true. The suggestion that the Government as the owner of Coillte cannot tell that company to disengage from a multimillion euro contract would be laughable if it were not so serious. T…

This is not something the Minister was unaware of. He was absolutely aware of it throughout the process but he kept this House, the agriculture committee, the sector and the farmers of Ireland completely in the dark. Then he comes before us and tells us there is nothing he can do and the deal is already made. It is absolute cynicism. It is the reason we have a crisis in forestry. It is the reason we are failing to reach our targets. What we have now is a deal that will see a venture owned by a British investment fu…

-----and a lack of vision on the part of the Department, we have seen the situation grow worse every year since to the point where we now have the lowest rate of afforestation since the Second World War.

I know why. It is because we have incompetent Ministers, an incompetent forestry section and an incompetent-----

Now we have the cynicism-----

-----of the Minister of State speaking against a motion she intends to vote in favour of. That is cynicism of the highest order.

That is the reason communities, farmers and landowners across the country have disengaged from the forestry programme.

I thought the Minister was going to be enthusiastically in favour of the motion.

I welcome the Minister and his officials. The establishment of a food regulator has been a long-standing demand of Sinn Féin and many farm organisations. I have regularly stated that an enforcement authority that protects farmers and communities against the stranglehold of dominant processors, particularly meat factories and multinational retailers, must be a central plank in delivering a fair price to Irish farmers for their quality product. Farmers have been at the mercy of processors and retailers for too long. …

We cannot speak about climate action without speaking about forestry. I have repeatedly said in the House that if we fail on forestry, we will fail on climate action. The Government is failing dramatically. The programme for Government sets out an annual target of 8,000 ha per year in new afforestation, but instead the Government has overseen the near entire collapse of Irish forestry. We are now planting fewer trees than we were during the Second World War. Under a Fianna Fáil Minister and a Green Party Minister o…

The overcrowding we have witnessed in our hospitals this winter represents an inhumane, unsafe, undignified health service. We need radical action. Unfortunately, few people have confidence that this Government will deliver that because the cause of the unrelenting crisis in our health services is the policy agendas pursued by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. I have seen it happening in real time in my political life in my county of Monaghan. I saw local elected representatives but, more important,…

The 50th anniversary of the bombings at Belturbet in County Cavan, Clones in County Monaghan and Pettigo in County Donegal will be marked on 28 December. The three bombs exploded within 49 minutes of each other. It is widely believed that the UVF in conjunction with British state agents were responsible for the attack. Nobody has ever been held to account. For many years, the response of this State to the bombings was silence but thanks to the efforts of families, local communities and the organisation, Justice for…

I thank the Minister of State for the update on the investigation. I ask him to give an assurance that he will endeavour to consistently update the families of the two victims he mentioned, Geraldine O'Reilly and Patrick Stanley, and the family of Paddy McCabe regarding any progress in that investigation. Will he also ensure that Justice for the Forgotten continues to be recognised for the fantastic work it has done on behalf of families in Monaghan, Dublin, Belturbet, Clones, Castleblayney, Pettigo and many other …

In the 21 years of the existence of the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, only once has its members had a split decision, and that was in respect of the actions of the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, in leaking a confidential document to his friend. The Comptroller and Auditor General and the Ombudsman, both members of SIPO, did not accept his implication that his actions, in his then role of Taoiseach, which he judged to be appropriate, cannot be questioned by SIPO. In a podcast interview this week, the Taoi…