Michael Healy-Rae
Kerry · Independent · Ireland
“This motion is timely because, with the massive increases for people running their homes and businesses, people who are working have never been at more of a disadvantage because of the high cost of going to work, childcare and fuel. What we need is a more targeted approach by the Government.”
“In County Kerry alone, the number of businesses that are closing weekly is frightening. These businesses are owned by people who have been in business for many years, who are very much valued in our communities and who create local employment, but they are closing their doors. It can be small shops, public houses or gift stores.”
“We should be doing more about providing our own energy, and doing more in a forward-thinking way to try to ensure that these types of measures will help us to reduce the cost of energy.”
“However, at the end of the day, the people that we always have to consider are people on low incomes, people who are working and people who are struggling. We have to try to help them in every way we can through targeted approaches. We have to look at the bigger picture, like the high cost of fuel and the tax take on fuel.”
“I sincerely thank Deputy Charles Ward for bringing forward this important motion. It is a reasonable motion. I acknowledge the work that has been done by people from the Government and the Opposition in securing the situation with IS 465:2026. Large sums of money have been put forward to help the affected families.”
“I urge the Government to outline its position on the EU lead ammunition proposal. This is the proposal to take lead out of ammunition, which could have a negative effect on 150,000 licensed shotgun owners in Ireland.”
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“It is regrettable that Hungary’s access to these programmes is limited but it is essential until remediation measures are put in place to address its consistent contravention of EU law. Ireland is a strong supporter of the EU rule of law toolbox and views it as essential that the EU has the necessary tools at its disposal to respond effectively to rule of law challenges where they arise.”
“Ireland also decided in February this year to intervene in the European Commission’s case against Hungary’s sovereignty protection law, which seriously threatens civil society space and independent media in Hungary. Separately, the Article 7 procedure, an EU treaty instrument, has been triggered against Hungary since 2018 due to serious breaches of the rule of law. In addition, the EU is using a range of tools to withhold a total of €18 billion in funding, including through the conditionality mechanism; rule-of-law-related so-called super-milestones in Hungary’s recovery and resilience plan; and the horizontal enabling condition of the common provision regulation that relates to compliance with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Additionally, Hungary is denied access to Horizon funding and the Erasmus programme.”
“It is imperative that the EU uses all the tools at its disposal to address the rule of law backsliding in Hungary. The European Commission has taken legal action in the form of infringement proceedings against Hungary for its failure to abide by its obligations as an EU member state in upholding the rule of law. Ireland has supported these efforts, including by joining the Commission’s case against Hungary in relation to its so-called Child Protection Act. The opinion of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union on this case was released on 5 June 2025, in which it considers that the child protection law infringes EU law. It suggests a free-standing breach of Article 2 should be found. I look forward to the final judgment in this case, which is expected in the autumn of this year.”
“The legal and constitutional amendments fast-tracked by the Hungarian Government in recent weeks now provide a basis to ban it under the false pretext of child protection. As a staunch advocate for the rule of law and fundamental EU values, the Tánaiste condemns this fresh attempt to target this community in Hungary by restricting their rights to freedom of expression and assembly as set out in Articles 11 and 12 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This move is a disturbing escalation by the Hungarian Government in ongoing attempts to curb LGBTQI+ rights. It is the latest development in a series of measures targeting civil society, independent media and minority rights, further weakening the rule of law in the country.”
“I thank Deputy Ward for raising this important issue. I apologise on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Harris. Ireland is a strong supporter of the rights of LGBTQI+ persons in Hungary. Respect for human rights and the rule of law are fundamental EU values as enshrined by Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. The Tánaiste is very concerned by recent measures taken by the Hungarian Government to restrict the rights of LGBTQI+ persons, including the passing of legislation that allows for a ban on Pride celebrations this year. June 28 will mark the 30th anniversary of Budapest Pride, the same date as Dublin Pride and the anniversary of Stonewall.”
“I believe the measures taken over the past couple of weeks are the first steps in the right direction, but we need to grow confidence in the housing sector to ensure that more and more houses can be built over the coming months and years.”
“We have a growing population and so many young and beautiful people growing up here. We want to be able to retain them. We want to be able to keep them in this country. One of the most important things they will need for themselves and their families in the future is a home they can call their own. We have a big job of work to do. I hope the measures that are being taken will be helpful. The fact is that An Bord Pleanála has a free hand at present as it has no statutory times or dates. I welcome the fact that will change. I welcome that it will have to ensure it will deal with appeals in a timely and swift fashion. I do not want to eat into anybody else's time. We can listen to the shouting and roaring but what we need is a Government of action.”
“One of the biggest losses we have is the fact that small builders are a rare breed at present because they have gone out of business. Not only do we need big developers to provide big housing schemes, we also need, and this was a very important person, the person in a local parish, community or town who built one, two, three, or maybe five or ten, houses a year, but were doing so year on year. We need expertise and good advice in housing. There are what might be called big developers in this country who have been at it for decades. They are people who are reputable and have been steeped in the provision of housing for decades. We have to look to those people for advice and guidance when it comes to exactly what we will do in future to tackle this ever-increasing problem.”
“I support the Minister for housing in what he is endeavouring to do. I really do. We need somebody who will catch this problem, who will catch the bull by the horns and really tackle it, who will be imaginative and who will try to instil confidence back into the housing market. The actual cost of providing housing has gone through the roof, as has the cost of building. When people are doing their sums, it quite simply does not make sense any more for people in the private sector to provide accommodation. That is one of the biggest problems we have. When they see some of the statements that are coming from people in opposition, that certainly will not give them the confidence to get involved in the housing market.”
“One of the reasons we are not doing it is that the confidence has gone out of private investment because people are looking at what is being said in places such as Dáil Éireann. People are forgetting the fact that for those who provide accommodation, the Government takes the biggest stake out of that in taxation on rents. Everybody is talking about high rents but nobody is talking about the fact that, in many cases, 56% of that is tax. It is tax. That is where the money is going. It is not going into anybody's pocket. It is going in tax. These people are collecting money, but they are paying up to 56% in tax. We need to provide more housing. We have a big job of work to do but this Government has the practical solutions. It has the drive and determination to take the necessary measures.”
“On private investment, this Government acknowledges, which the Opposition does not, that we need private involvement in the housing market. Again, there are parties on the other side of the House that really think we will be able to pull billions and billions - up to €20 billion a year - out of thin air and put it into housing. We will not be able to afford to solve the problem on our own. We need private investment. Maybe people in the Opposition do not like that but if we want to protect people who need a home for themselves, and we want to do good by those people, the only way we will do so is by providing more and more opportunities for homes for them to live in. At present, we are not doing that.”
“I welcome the fact we have a grant scheme for vacant and derelict houses but, unfortunately, there are an awful lot of problems administering that. People are finding it very cumbersome and awkward to get through that process. Of course, local authorities charged with administering the scheme have to be prudent and careful, but there is such a thing as prudence and such a thing as making something virtually impossible for a person to qualify for. If a person owns a derelict or vacant house and wants to do it up, and this Government wants to give assistance in providing a home for that person or somebody else, surely we can look at the difficulties we are having in administering the scheme and streamline those to ensure it will become a more user-friendly way of getting the financial assistance people are entitled to.”
“They wanted to take the bike shed from the back of Leinster House and put another out the front. That has to be put on record. It is there on the public record that the leader of the Labour Party wrote a letter to the Ceann Comhairle asking for a bike shelter to be provided on the Kildare Street side of Dáil Éireann. With regard to our banks, AIB and BOI, I deal every day with people who want to borrow money from the bank. They are workers who want to borrow money to get a mortgage but they cannot because of those two banks, which were served very well by the taxpayers of this State in keeping their doors open. I appreciate the work our banks do, but why in the name of God are they closed to giving people loans and mortgages? It is impossible for young people to get a loan from the banks at present.”
“What should happen, when it comes to objections, is the €20 fee that is there at present for putting in an objection, and the €200 fee to take somebody to the board, should be increased by many multiples of euro. Why? If people have a genuine complaint, they will not mind paying money to put in that observation or objection, but if they are doing so for very frivolous reasons and have to stick their hand in their pocket to stop somebody else from having a home, and have to pay a higher price for it, it might stop them doing that type of activity. I note the absence of Labour Party Members. They were the people who were going to build a million houses. They are interested in building a million houses out of thin air and also seeking another new bike shed. That was what they wanted to build.”
“They do not object to anything and are able to carry out their lives that way. However, some people use their political platform to stop development. How can people stand up in Dáil Éireann and say they want housing to be provided while at the same time, when somebody comes along and puts in a planning application in their area, they object to it and think that is all right? They object for various reasons but, to be honest, those reasons are best known to themselves. I cannot understand why anybody would use his or her position as an elected representative to object to somebody else having a home, be that a flat, an apartment or a house, just because that representative does not want it and somebody else has asked him or her to object to it. That is crazy.”
“That will, thankfully, be sorted out by these new exemptions, which will clear their decks to deal with what they should be dealing with, which is applications from people who are seeking to build, particularly on their own family farms. These are people who want to provide a house for themselves and hope to secure planning permission to do so. Before I move away from local authorities, I will raise an issue those in the Opposition know an awful lot about, that is, serial objectors. Unusually for an institution such as Dáil Éireann, and this is something that many members of the public do not realise, in parties such as Sinn Féin and others, there are serial objectors. People are on the record as having objected to thousands and thousands of homes. The majority of normal people go through their lives and do not object to one house.”
“It is ironic to think that at a time when we want more housing, we have such a number of vacant properties. We must also tackle the long waits in turning around local authority housing and ensure that when a house becomes vacant, it will be treated the same as a house in the private sector, turned around and rented out again. We do not have that at present. The Government and local authorities must work hand in hand to ensure we turn properties around quickly. The exemptions in respect of modular homes will also help our planning authorities, which often struggle with an awful lot of red tape and officialdom.”
“-----who is willing to come into the Chamber. Other people grandstand, shout and roar about housing. I am glad and proud that this Government is strongly focused. The provision of more housing is one of the main objectives of this Government. We must ensure protection for people who are looking for their own houses or to rent local authority houses or houses provided by approved housing agencies. We have, however, many difficulties to overcome. I wish to highlight an initiative about which the Opposition has been silent. I thank the Minister for his work and compliment him strongly in this regard. The new planning exemptions will apply to the adjustment of existing houses, the subdividing of houses and the provision of accommodation overhead in shops and pubs. We are trying to tackle the scourge of dereliction.”
“I declare an interest in this debate. For the past 40 years, I have been strongly involved in the provision of housing. I will continue to be involved for the rest of my time in an accelerated and growing way, year on year, despite all the difficulties in that sector. There are issues surrounding this whole debate and why it is happening. An awful lot of people in opposition wanted a debate on housing. It is ironic that there is, thankfully, one representative of the Opposition-----”
“The message I have for the people who are unhappy with the ash dieback situation and the way they have been dealt with is please come back to the Department and engage with us. If there is something more that can be done for them, it will be done. I do not want to see people upset or losing out on money. It has been an upsetting time for them and I understand that, but we are there to engage with them. If we can do something for them, we will, but if we cannot, then we are sorry. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his indulgence and the extra time.”
“Approvals under the new ash dieback reconstitution schemes continue, with 1,077 approvals for nearly 4,000 ha issued to date. Those forest owners who replanted under any of the ash dieback reconstitution schemes can also avail of the additional climate action performance payment, CAPP, of €5,000 per hectare. That is very important. To date, CAPP payments for an area of 1,419 ha have been paid, amounting to €3.5 million. Since ash dieback was first identified, a total of €16 million has been paid in respect of site clearance and the replanting of ash forests. I encourage any forest owner who has yet not cleared an affected site to consider applying for the reconstitution scheme.”
“I do not want to intrude on anyone’s time. I am very sorry but I wanted to be respectful to everybody by answering all of the questions. When we are talking about the future of forestry, and I am particularly saying this when I hear people inside here saying, "We do not want to plant peat soils", that does not make sense because, like I said, look at what happened before. If we did not plant the peat soils before, we would have no forestry, timber or anything now. I am sure there is logic in what the Senators have said but I cannot see it. I have one thing to read out about the ash dieback, and I apologise that I forgot this earlier, so please allow me just this. I was very taken with the lady who said she was so upset that she felt let down by the schemes.”
“We want to use green ground for grazing but plant trees on rough ground and peaty ground. I am afraid that this is just one of these things on which we cannot always agree. Am I out of time?”
“If we are going to continually restrict where we go, and we are on 30 cm, and if we are going to be married to 30 cm in the future, then, quite simply, we will not have enough timber and will have to import it from Scotland and do nonsensical stupid things like that. I do not want that to happen. If we are talking about protecting the environment, is it not a lot better to have our own produce here in Ireland? That is why I and my officials in the Department will look at planting more peatland. Farmers want to plant peatland. Farmers do not want to plant their green ground because they have worked so hard to get the bit they have. They broke their backs and bones to make the land green and they do not want to plant trees on it but instead use it for grazing.”
“I am sorry and I do not mean to be rude or anything like that but if their policy with regard to peat was taken to its logical conclusion, in Ireland today, whatever amount of forestry we have, we would have about 80% less. If the policies that the Senators would like to see were there at that time, we would have a crazy situation. If the rules that are applied even today were applied before, we would not have any forestry or timber. That would affect the sawmills that give valuable employment and the construction industry were we want the timber. We would still need timber in Ireland but from where would we get it? We would have to import timber and that does not make sense. Whether we like it or not, to get timber you have to stick a tree in the ground and it has to grow.”
“The providers of their produce are their farmers. If sawmills do anything to blot their copybook at this time and lose the confidence of farmers, it will be bad for them in the future. These people are not fly-by-nights. They are not people who set up a business but are gone in no time. That is not the way. They are in this for the long haul. In general, they are generational workers. They are families and, hopefully, their families in the future will run these sawmills so they will do the exact opposite and try to keep the prices up. Senators Collins, Tully and Higgins mentioned peatlands. This is where honesty is the best policy. I am not going to come in here and let on that I agree with somebody who says something that I do not agree with. I just do not operate that way.”
“Even today, I had the pleasure of visiting a very extensive sawmill. I was very glad to call to this business, which has existed more 100 years or more. To see the employment and expertise, and to see what they are doing on the ground with our product, and the massive amount of money that they have invested, the confidence they have in the sector, makes me really feel that we have an obligation to ensure they will have timber in the future and will not have to go to Scotland. In Scotland, 17,000 ha a year is planted compared with the paltry amount of planting done here. Scotland recognises the value of timber and the contribution that timber makes to its economy. I am very glad with the way sawmills here operate. I am not afraid that they will pull down the price. They know they are in this for the long haul.”
“In my infinite wisdom many years ago, I automatically assumed that carbon credits were going to be a big thing of the future. I thought we would own them, could trade them and that they would be a valuable commodity. Unfortunately we have not got there yet. It is something we all aspire to. I believe that every farmer in the country, whether they have forestry or not, should be entitled to carbon credits. Many people would try to give the impression that farmers are doing some sort of damage to the countryside because they are farming it. Making a living producing food is a very necessary thing for all of us because otherwise we will all die of starvation. The issue of carbon credits is something I hope will be looked at in the future. The Senator's points are very well made. A few Senators have mentioned the price of timber.”
“I just want to make that quite clear. From the Minister, Deputy Heydon, down to me and the other Ministers of State, we and this Government have no intention of reducing the national herd. We will promote agroforestry and make it a good use for people such that they can have cattle, sheep and a piece of land that is covered with agroforestry and get their premium for that as well. This Government is for farmers. We are for our national herd. We are supporting people who worked hard to build up a herd of cows and maybe a beef herd. This Government is supporting them in every strong, possible way. Senator Brady described people being fearful of planting and the carbon credit issue, which I did not deal with. The carbon credits are very important.”
“Those points were very well made and I will come back to them again. With regard to the premiums for broadleaf trees and agroforestry, Senator Malcolm Noonan and I are very good friends but sometimes we do not agree. He said that agroforestry could be a help when it comes to things like reducing the national herd. There is no intention by the Department of agriculture to interfere in any way with our national herd. We do not want to do that.”
“Any person who has a forest will go to their forester and ask them to do up a management plan and get it certified. We will have a national certification scheme. Senators will know this, but for anyone who is listening, certification is like being Bord Bia-approved for your beef. It is like quality assured status for your forest. It will be a good thing and will give people an interest in their forest. It will give them pride in it. Most important, when they are cutting it and sending it to the sawmills - at present the sawmills can take uncertified timber from a forest but if it is certified, it is all the better. That is very important. On the broadleaf trees, Senator Mullen said the premiums are not enough. I have dealt with that already through the issue of agroforestry. The Senator referred to the ESB power lines.”
“Senator Mullen raised the applications and said that when a person is dealing with an official in the Department, he would like for that person to take ownership of that application. I do not want them to own the application for too long. What I want them to do is turn it around and send it out with "approved" on it. I would like for them to know who they are dealing with, but not to be getting to know them too well that they would have to be contacting them a lot or anything like that. One thing I did not say earlier was that I have an ambition that every forest in Ireland that is privately owned will be certified. Certifying a forest will give people an interest in their forest again. I am not looking to put an imposition of money on them. My aim is that the Department will be paying for it.”
“A number of people said it is urgent. Of course I would like to see a timeframe of a year and a half to 24 months, but that is the type of time we are talking about. The forest is not on fire, it is knocked and it is still worth money. I thank Senator Paul Daly for his kind words. Senators Tully and Brady raised the amount of planting. This year we are improving but I am not standing here boasting about what we are doing. We might be doing better than we were doing, but what we were doing was a disaster. At present we are only a small bit better than a disaster. Do not think I am standing here saying we are doing great and asking for a pat on the back. That is not the case. We are coming from a very bad place.”
“With regard to the licences, to make it clear in case I did not do so already, previously, foresters had to get a thinning licence to thin and then a clear-fell licence to clear-fell. I merged those two licences into one. If Senator Mullen has a thinning licence, he can now clear-fell on the strength of it, which saves bureaucracy and time. The result is that 60% of all the timber that is on the ground now, toppled or whatever, already has a licence. It was said by a few people that this was a matter of urgency and that it is urgent to get the timber out of the forests. That is factually not correct. Of course, if you have a forest and it is knocked, you want to see it gone and turned into money. However, it is not dying, rotting or wasting. If timber has been cracked, of course that is a different thing. I want to make that clear.”
“I want to deal with everything properly. I really appreciate the Senators' engagement. I will start with Senator Paul Daly. With regard to the 6,000 ha, he made a very important point. They have approval and the Senator asked what is happening with them. Myself and Mr. Barry Delany, who is the head of forestry, are working on this already. In the very near future - I am committing to have it done within the next four weeks - we will be contacting every person who has approval and asking why they have not moved. If we need to do something to persuade or encourage them, we will be doing it. These people have a licence. They are ready to go. I am scratching my head and wondering why they are not planting. The Senator was very right to raise that.”
“I thank the Cathaoirleach and as I do not believe I have had a proper chance to do this, I wish him every good luck in his very important role. It is very unusual to have neighbours who are so near to each other being so near to each other again here in the Chamber. I hope I can deal with this properly in the time I have. I will go quickly.”
“Those affected can avail of the climate action payment. To date, almost €3.56 million has been paid out on that. I have been visiting situations on the ground. One thing we have heard an awful lot about are the ESB outages. I know that is of great importance to all Senators because many of them have seen the trouble this has caused in the constituencies they are from. People like the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, are doing excellent work to ensure the corridors that need to be provided will be provided. We need to ensure the landowners will be consulted and compensated if at all possible. We just have to try to get that job of work done.”
“They are perfectly entitled to take out their timber and, yes, they can retrospectively apply for the reconstitution scheme when it will be in place, and it will be in place. I just hope we will be able to put together the money to make it strong enough to take the harm out of having to replant. Senators might ask why people would need the replanting grant now at a time when they would not get it otherwise. Quite simply, it is because of what I just said about how some of the timber might not be heavy enough, and if people are getting a cheque in the hand from the sawmills for their timber, they do not want to have to be spending too much of it replanting to get themselves back to where they were in the first instance. The ash dieback, of course, has been a big issue. The reconstitution scheme continues.”
“Yes, of course, I will not deny that if it is younger forestry, if it is 15 or 16 years old, they do not have the weight on the timber and if that timber is knocked, yes, of course, that is difficult. One thing Senators will be asked, and I want them to know, is that there is going to be a reconstitution scheme. It is not there at present because we needed to be sure of all the analysis of the data before we could actually announce it. We cannot say what we will compensate unless we know the scale of the problem first. Therefore, people will ask what will happen when they take out their timber now and whether they will miss out on a grant to plant again. No, they will not.”
“However, we only want to it to be brought out as it is ready to go to the sawmills because we do not want it to be losing weight and losing income for the farmers who own it. It is very upsetting, of course, especially for an older person who goes out to see his or her lovely forest flattened to the ground, and it looks awful, and that person thinks it is a disaster. It is not, really, because it is still connected to the ground in the majority of cases and it is not really losing value, and those people will be taken care of by their forester and the contractors that will come along. It might look bad and it might seem bad, but they still have a valuable crop, especially if it is of a certain age, if it is over 25, 26 and 27 years.”
“Some people might have this impression that there is a lot of timber on the ground, so the sawmills are going to blackguard it and drag down the price. I would not agree with that. They are not going to do that. I am very proud of the sawmills we have in Ireland because I see the massive amount of money they have expended - hundreds of millions of euro creating jobs at home, turning a raw product into a multitude of uses to the highest of standards and exporting across to England and up to the North. It is great to see it. It is great to see our natural resource being turned into fine products that are up to the highest of standards. We have a job of work to do, including the haulage people and the contractors who will actually harvest this timber and bring it out.”
“Members should always remember that the best place to store timber is inside a wood when it is connected to the ground. That is the best place to keep it. Approximately 14,000 ha of that is owned by Coillte and the rest of it is private. The one thing I wanted to do at the very beginning was ensure people would be safe. A couple of very bad things have happened by people going at work themselves. Indeed, in my county we had an awful incident recently involving a chainsaw. The first thing I would say to people is that whatever about timber or their forestry or anything, they should be safe about what work they are doing. Get the proper assessment, get the proper foresters to come in, get the proper advice and get in the contractors when the time is right. I have been visiting the sawmills. I have every confidence in our sawmills.”
“Every one of us - be it Senators, TDs, Ministers, or councillors at home in the constituencies - want to see people having confidence in planting trees again. In doing that, we in the Department have to up our game. It is our responsibility to make it more attractive. It is my fault if it is not got right. I am very invested in improving it. As Senators will be dealing with people who have questions for them, I will go through a couple of headline points about the storm, some of which they may know already. There are 25,000 ha of forestry on the ground. They should not think that is a disaster. It is not as though the product is gone. The majority of it is windblown but it is still connected to the ground. It is not losing weight.”
“The vast majority of the forests we have, both under the ownership of Coillte and privately owned, if you were looking to plant them today you would be told: "We are very sorry, you are not eligible." Where would that leave us? We have an awful job of work. I am very grateful for people's work. The officials in the Department have bought into this. They want to turn this ship around, because if it does not turn around it will sink. The Government set a target of 800,000 ha a year. As Senators are aware, things have not been as bad with regard to planting since 1946. We must improve on that. If we fail during my time in this Department, I will have been a failure, forestry will be a failure and it will do untold damage to us in emissions and the fines we will have to pay in the future.”
“If Senators do not believe in what we are doing they will not have the confidence to tell people in their constituencies that they are convinced, so I want to convince them. I accept that we have a lot of work to do. An awful lot of land is ineligible. I debate the science that says it is ineligible. My son Jackie and I spent a number of days recently walking ground with people who were very smart about their business. The one thing I have learned is that if you were up in the sky today above Ireland looking down at the forestry we have, you would be refused if you were looking to plant that ground under the present terms and conditions.”
“You would evaluate an awful lot in a year, two years or two and a half years, so that type of nonsense will not be allowed to continue in the future. I stress that it absolutely will not. I want to give Senators confidence. I very much appreciate the work Senators do. In coming here today, I would like to think that in their constituencies they would become very strong advocates for planting trees. We want to have a balance. We want to have native trees, through the agroforestry scheme, which I hope to improve. To be blunt, I do not agree with the terms of the scheme at present. They are not good enough. The scheme is not attractive enough. The first bit of advice I would give to a farmer who wants to plant agroforestry at the moment is to wait until we improve the scheme. I want it to be improved, and it will be improved.”
“One of the main reasons is that if you wanted to thin or clear fell your forest, or if you wanted a permit to make a road, you heard nightmare stories, which were factual, that it would take a year, two years or two and a half years. Nobody should have to wait that long for anything from any Department. That should not be the case. I am very grateful and thankful to the officials in the Department and the people from the Department working on the ground every day. They are improving every day. They are going to be so good by the time this thing is finished that they are going to be frightening. People will no more have an application sent in when they will get a licence back. I do not want to be flippant about it because there is a serious side to it. There must be proper assessment and evaluation.”
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to come before the Seanad this evening. I am very thankful to be in the position I am in, especially now because of the difficulties we have in forestry. Following the recent storm we are in the unprecedented situation that there are 25,000 ha of trees on the ground. Before that happened, we had a very serious situation in forestry, in that not enough farmers were planting forestry. As there are competing schemes, what we in the Department need to do is make it more attractive. There is a struggle between competing schemes and the fact is that there are other avenues of land use and people are worried about forestry. There is no point in trying to make this out to be any nicer than it is. Forestry got a bad name in recent years.”
“I thank the Deputy again on behalf of the Minister for raising this matter. The Minister's first priority is to get more Garda members on our streets, including through increased recruitment. As we see more people join the organisation, we will see more gardaí on the streets of our towns and villages throughout the country and of course in County Cork and in Cork city and all the surrounding towns. In 2024, 36 probation gardaí were allocated to Cork. The Minister was delighted to bear witness to 149 new recruits passing out at Templemore on 7 March last, seven of whom were assigned to Cork. The Deputy might say that is not enough. Again, I will remind him that the Government is steadfast in its support of An Garda Síochána. The financial input that has been put into the workings of An Garda Síochána shows that commitment.”
“The model was introduced after recommendations from the Garda Síochána Inspectorate and the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, and based on feedback from gardaí of all ranks. The model, coupled with some realignment of responsibilities, will help to deliver a consistent community-focused policing service and allows local gardaí to draw upon specialised services available from the divisional-based units.”