I am grateful for the invitation to address the House. I welcome the opportunity to speak to Members about forestry at a time governments across the globe are seeking to implement policy solutions to tackle the climate crisis. In recent years we have had our own crisis in the forestry sector, with particularly low planting rates. Today I will outline the Government's plans to reverse that trend and to put in motion actions that will help us to deal with our climate change challenge as well as addressing other impor…

I thank Deputies for their contributions. It is clear that across the House, while there are different views on where we are headed, everyone wants the forestry sector to be successful. That is important to acknowledge. We need it to be a success in the context of the climate, nature, water quality, wood production, our people, the wider economy and rural areas. I welcome Deputy Bruton's comments. I was glad to hear him talk about the use of timber in buildings. It is something we need to progress significantly. We…

I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this matter. In Ireland more than 80% of animal feed for ruminants is provided by grass, hay and silage, complemented where appropriate by compound feeds. From an animal feed perspective, the pig, poultry and dairy sectors in particular rely on high-protein feed rations that are primarily made up of soya bean and maize by-products. Ireland has a limited capacity to grow certain protein crops and is therefore more dependent on feed imports relative to other EU member states. Climat…

I thank Senator Boyhan and I take his points on board. We have limited capacity to grow our own and more growing of our own is something that the Department has tried to support in the past year, as we cannot grow GM food in Ireland. In this regard the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, recently announced a second tillage incentive scheme which has as its focus the purpose of increasing the amount of grain and forage that will be essentially home-grown, as in grown here in Ireland with the aim of converting grassland to…

I thank Senator McGreehan for raising this issue, which is as close to her heart as it is to mine. The sheep sector is extremely important to the Cooley Peninsula and to County Louth as a whole. I agree wholeheartedly with all the positive benefits she has outlined in the context of wool. The production of wool is an important aspect of the agriculture industry. According to data from the 2021 sheep census, there were just over 4 million sheep kept in registered herds in the country on 31 December 2021. This repres…

I agree there is a great opportunity here. I recently saw some photos of what could have been an organic horticultural grower that was using wool in its polytunnels as the mulch and insulator, which it had bought from a neighbouring farmer, with nice symbiosis. That is just one example, and there are plenty of others throughout the country. I often get correspondence asking why we do not do this. The opportunity is there and the sooner we get the wool council up and running, the better the outlook for our sheep far…

I too extend the sympathies of my Green Party colleagues to the friends and family of Vicky Phelan. She was a once-in-a-generation advocate for change. May she rest in peace. Here in Ireland, the vast majority of homes and buildings are made from concrete and steel. We have yet to embrace timber construction in the way many of our near neighbours and European partners have. This is a huge opportunity for us. Last week at COP27, Climate TRACE, a global not-for-profit organisation, released a huge bank of data listin…

I am delighted to have the opportunity to address fellow Senators on the important topic of forestry. I thank them for the invitation. It is timely that I bring forestry matters to the House, especially in light of the current focus on climate change, with COP27 now into its second week, and the urgent need for climate action. It is well recognised that planting trees is one of the most efficient methods at our disposal to reduce carbon emissions and that forests have a vital role to play in helping us to address t…

We have.

I thank the Acting Chairperson and the Senators for the invitation to speak and their passionate input into their questions and statements. This issue has been discussed at length since I took office and continues to be discussed. After a little over two years, we are getting to a stage where the sector is in a much healthier position and state. We are about to embark on a new strategy for trees, woodlands and forestry in Ireland over the next decade. The vision that extends to 2050 is about what we hear all the ti…

All of that will be part of the LULUCF calculations, which are separate from agricultural emissions. This will come into play in the next year or year and a half when we complete the land use review. That involves how we use our land. Forestry will be included in that but we certainly need to get moving in terms of planting trees.

Perhaps that is something we can look at further down the line. We are not overly keen on burning anything but energy. There might be something for heat.

I know there are some other issues relating to-----

We are cognisant of that and need to look into it. We have made mistakes in the past in terms of what we have done with our peatlands and forestry. There are also some good examples. It is not good to be negative all the time about it. Our engagement with the public and stakeholders this year has been like nothing before. I welcome the general warm welcome for the programme. I know the public consultation on the strategy and the programme is still ongoing and I ask people to engage with that. If there are any speci…

I extend my thanks to Senator Martin for introducing this Bill and his interest in this area. His honey is delicious. I fully acknowledge, as does my Department, the important contribution bees make not only to agriculture but also to biodiversity as both pollinators and as honey producers. My Department supports the important work of all the beekeeping associations in Ireland in the promotion and protection of apis mellifera . I certainly welcome the support of the members of the Native Irish Honey Bee Society who…

Last week my Department opened two new schemes which are positive for farmers, climate, biodiversity and water quality and will help us to reach our targets in the agricultural sector. The agri climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, and the organic farming scheme are fantastic opportunities, but we still hear some criticism. I suspect it comes from those who are not joining either scheme. They say ACRES does not pay enough and the organic scheme is not the bed of roses it is made out to be but, as I speak, more f…

I thank the Deputy for her continued interest in this matter. As she outlined, an independently compiled review of the wool sector, which was a programme for Government commitment, was conducted and published in July. The review contained findings and recommendations, including potential funding streams, market opportunities for wool and multiple areas for additional research and development. One of the main recommendations of the review was the establishment of an independent wool council, which was widely welcome…

I totally agree with the Deputy that there is much potential in wool. It is not fair to say that nothing has happened, however. After the study was completed, it was over to the sector itself to establish a wool council. It is not for the Department or for me to establish that. That was one of the most significant parts, the establishment of the wool council. However, I received a letter from representatives of a group of stakeholders seeking to form the wool council. I responded to them requesting that they engage…

I can assure the Deputy that we are not forgetting about any of the recommendations in the wool feasibility study. It is of precedence that we get the wool council established, which is what we are endeavouring to do. As I said at the start, however, it is not for the Department to establish it. It has to be industry-led and that was the agreement. I know full well about the price of wool. I am a sheep farmer myself. Market forces and market demand dictate the price of wool and it is, unfortunately, at a terribly l…

I thank the Deputy for the question. Last year, as he is probably aware, I commissioned a KPMG report to identify the challenges and opportunities for the horticulture sector. The report referred to by the Deputy in his question, Opportunities for the Irish Horticulture Sector, was published in July this year. The report identifies the sector's dependence on peat as a threat in the SWOT analysis and the research challenge to finding alternative growing media. The report also proposes actions to address this and oth…