Independent Cork South West TD Michael Collins this week challenged senior department officials to prevent deforestation in Ireland, saying it has led to a wood shortage and price spike in construction materials.
Speaking this week in the Dáil, the Deputy said that forestry regulation in Ireland is “in shreds.”
“Ireland’s forestry regulatory system is in shreds, with afforestation rates – crucial to help in the fight against climate change – on the floor. The government are unapologetically abandoning this crucial sector,” he said.
“This failing is leading to a wood shortage and massive price hikes in construction materials. This failure on the part of the Department of Agriculture has caused the country’s afforestation rates to drop by over 60 percent, farm forestry programmes are nearly dead, and the entire regulatory system is broken.”
The Deputy pointed out that a lack of forestry in Ireland went against the government stated climate-ethos, considering trees and forests breathe in carbon dioxide, which is said to be a “greenhouse gas.”
“At this point, my colleagues and I in the Rural Independent group, believe that the government are utterly dragging their feet on this issue and are lacking the motivation and desire to bring forward the rapid solutions that are required,” Collins said.
“For instance, the government has earmarked the planting of 8,000 hectares of forestry per year. However, information made available to the Agriculture committee this week by officials, will likely mean that only around half of this target will be met this year.”
He added that the committee was previously informed that an average of 100 licences per week would be needed to meet the overall target for the year. However, in the entire months of July and August, only around 34 per week were given – well below the required amount.
“This cliff edge drop in productivity has gone on far too long. So far, the Agriculture Minister has failed to resolve this issue despite calls on him to do so for well over a year now,” the Deputy admonished.
“The Minister must now finally intervene and resolve this issue once and for all. The backlog in licences must be addressed in a meaningful, accountable and urgent manner.”
He added that not only is the forestry sector being crippled, but that this was having “a knock-on impact on many other sectors,” and accused the government of kicking the can down the road on clearing the logjam.
“My colleagues and I are calling for the Minister to directly intervene with an immediate solution. We will be challenging the Minister on the floor of the Dáil on this issue at every opportunity,” concluded Deputy Collins.