Forestry Management

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Questions (641)

Maureen O'Sullivan

Question:

641. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 152 of 11 December 2013 in which he stated he will not publish the Coillte forestry review, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Coillte is the largest forestry operator operating under the 1988 Forestry Act and is, therefore, fundamentally connected to the new Forestry Bill 2013; the way the new Forestry Bill 2013 will achieve sustainable forest management if older Acts such as the Forestry Act 1988, from which Coillte emanated, are not reviewed and reformed and since the principles of sustainable forest management stem from the Rio Earth Summit in 1992; and in the case that the 1988 Forestry Act predates this agreement, the reason it is primarily focused on the primacy of profit and timber production; the way it will be able to deliver the multiple benefits of sustainable forest management; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55461/13]

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Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The purpose of the Forestry Bill 2013 is to reform and update the legislative framework relating to forestry in order to support the development of a modern forestry sector. The provisions of the Forestry Bill 2013, when enacted, will encompass, and apply to, the entire forestry industry, within which Coillte operates. As you will be aware, the purpose of the Forestry Act 1988 was to provide for the establishment and administration of Coillte. This new Forestry Bill, I believe, will enable forestry development in Ireland to be undertaken in line with the principles of Sustainable Forest Management by achieving an appropriate balance between facilitating the growth and sustainability of the industry whilst at the same time having regard to protection of the environment and maintenance of the social benefits and other public goods that forests provide.