asked the Minister for Lands if he is prepared to implement the recommendation of Mr. Cameron, Canadian forestry expert, who recommended a domestic scheme of forestry for the Republic which would provide employment for Irish workers and create a great national asset.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Domestic Scheme of Forestry.
55.
The Cameron Report, prepared in 1951, recommended that planting on a commercial basis should be confined to a rate of 11,750 acres per annum, which was the rate which Mr. Cameron judged adequate to meet not more than half of the country's requirements of timber, and, as a secondary objective, a programme of like extent should be attempted on lands judged incapable of growing timber on a basis of commercial return. Since 1959, the normal annual planting programme has been at a level higher than the total programme envisaged by Mr. Cameron; in recent years over 40 per cent of the planting programme is carried out in the western counties where the major need for employment arises.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary agree with me when I say that the words "domestic scheme" are the words used? Would he not agree that if this scheme were implemented, as Mr. Cameron has recommended, it would be of great benefit to people with small holdings in the west of Ireland, even if it were only undertaken as an experiment?
As I have already informed the Deputy, the planting done each year is equal to the total amount advocated by Mr. Cameron and in recent years over 40 per cent of the planting programme has been carried out in western counties. The second part of Mr. Cameron's suggestion is that a programme of like extent should be attempted on lands incapable of growing timber on a basis of commercial return. I do not know if this is feasible at all.