Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
892. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps that his Department will take to protect the Irish market from an increase in market prices for timber (details supplied), which, if left unprotected, will further exacerbate the housing crisis. [16461/22]
View answerThe conflict in Ukraine and range of sanctions from Russia will have an impact on the international trade in timber. Many forest owners and importers rely on independent certification that provides due diligence that timber has come from sustainably managed forests.
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is one of the large certification bodies used to market timber. The PEFC have announced recently that all timber originating from Russia and Belarus is ‘conflict timber’ and therefore cannot be used in PEFC-certified products. This also applies to all timber originating from occupied Ukrainian territory.
The PEFC defines conflict timber as, "Timber that has been traded at some point in the chain of custody by armed groups, be they rebel factions or regular soldiers, or by a civilian administration involved in armed conflict or its representatives, either to perpetuate conflict or take advantage of conflict situations for personal gain". Although conflict timber is not necessarily illegal this decision will impact the flow of timber to the EU.
Ireland's exposure to the Russian market is small and amounted to approximately 4% of total sawnwood imports in 2020. The price of timber and other world traded commodities such as fertiliser and steel have seen large increases in prices within the last 12 months. The cost of housing reflects many different factors.
