asked the Minister for Lands if he will consider sponsoring, by legislation if necessary, the development of afforestation on a large scale by county and urban councils and other interested bodies, in order to encourage the decentralisation of afforestation which is tending in recent years to come too much under the control of the Forestry Branch.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Decentralisation of Afforestation.
I am most anxious to secure an increase in the rate of private planting, both by private landowners and other bodies, and I have initiated an inquiry into the factors that are militating against such planting at present, but I do not consider that there is any case for the delegation of responsibility for a major part of the national afforestation programme to local authorities, as suggested by the Deputy.