Danny Healy-Rae Demands Timelines for Felling Licences

Thank you very much, Cahillac. I am absolutely goated with the Minister's response that she will not put a time limit on this felony license application or appeal. We are absolutely going nowhere, Minister. You're only codding the people. Honestly, codding the people. Good, hardworking people that are providing employment and creating a produce and they have fortunes invested in it and they have time invested in it and at the same time, this government doesn't want to help them. I can clearly see now what you're at. He is not going to listen to our amendments and time is of the essence. And look, Deputy Barrett, there are things that can be changed and improved in the planting of foresters. But what we're talking about here this evening is felling licenses for grown timber that's standing to be cut and there's people's jobs on the line. There was figures given there for harvesters and for forwarders. They're a million, a unit. And I know what, they're not much of yoke at all, Deputy Barrett, but they cost savage money and there's savage maintenance in them and they can't continue paying for them if they have no work. Get that clear. Get that clear. The lorries that I talked about that go up through our village and go up through the Killaritan side from the Yvera Peninsula where there's a lot of grown timber planted, they will stop rolling. And the figures have been given there for the cost of those vehicles. And there's, there's, to learn to drive a harvester in itself is about a three-year operation. Now, talk about getting a provisional license for the car, but it won't be left to operate one of them harvester without at least three years' experience. They're so intricate and so involved and, and to deal with the topography that they deal with. And to see you mention places about Derry-Royne or whatever, that was in the make-up road. That was not in the courtyard of the trees, Deputy Barrett. And we, we, we, we're, I'm appealing to you again, Minister. Time is of essence. And if you don't want to listen to it, and Deputy McConnell, you're there as well, you're in the government now. And, and, and I, I, I, I, I look up to you as well, to, to ensure that the farmers and the landowners that have land planted in Donegal and Sligo and Roscommon and all those places, they were advised to plant it in the first place because the land wasn't arable, there was no other way of deriving money from it. So now we, we have many places that are ready to cut. And we don't, like I said here several other times, we don't have oil, we don't have deposits of gold or diamonds in this country. And here's the fact that we must, we must use whatever resources we have to, to, to, to, to, to, we must use whatever resources we have to, to, to, to, to survive. And that, this is one of the resources that we have in rural parts of marginal land in Kerry and Weshkark. These places, I know them so well. I've worked in every one of them. And I know that, I know that myself, if I'm doing a small little job on the road, I'll have to put in silk traps and I'll have to put in, uh, silk ponds and make sure that there's no runoff. The thing is so, uh, perfect in relation to that. And that applies to the fellas' harvesting as well. If there's a stream, they have to ensure that, that they have a way of crossing it without even taking the wheels or the tracks through it. There, there's, there's other, there, there's ways that you do that. All those things, I promise you, are in place. If you've other issues with the aspect of forestry, they have to be raised in another day. And we'll listen to, and give a hearing, if a sensible story or something that makes sense, we will listen to, and actually support you. But we're looking for your very own support now for failing licenses. For trees and forests that have even been cut down two times before, once or twice before, and this is their turn around the road. And nothing could be cleaner or better the way they're operating. If I spilt a drop of oil in the road and, and the inspector came along, I'd be castigated over it. And I have to have stuff, I have to have a spill kit inside the machine for, when I, when I was at it, you'd have to have a spill kit inside the machine to make sure that was, that was picked up right away and, and cleaned up. That's how perfect and crystal clear the, the, the, the, the, the, the operation is now. But it's not fair or right of the minister to say they are doing something about this situation that we're in by suggesting that she will not cave in to our request for a timeline. There has to be a timeline because when we're talking about building a house or, or building a factory, there's a timeline for that. And this is the very same, but to the way more serious this is because there's, there's a, there's a system in place where the harvester cuts it, the, the farmer that picks it up, and take it to the likes of Granger's and Inishkeen, or Mediat and Canmel, and they're all supplying Palfab and, and, and, and the factory, the pallet factory in Canbrohead. They, all those are operating, but they're dependent on one thing, and they're asking us for a felling licence, and, and to make sure that we get it in a reasonable time. I say to you, minister, if you don't exceed to this, to be a way better for us, go down the road and go to, go on holidays, because there was less harm being done when you were on holidays than there is now. We, we, we, we suffering last night with penalty points of fishermen. I said to you that, that, that, that the only lorries that go up through Kilgarvin taking produce out of, outside of the world is the fisheries, the lorries bringing the fish. Are the lorries bringing the timber, are the few cattle out of the map? That's the only process we have. They're the only, the only projects that we have. Well, and like I said to you, we haven't oil, or gold, or anything else. These are the things that we have, and I'm, I'm looking at the board to be there now here, the two ministers for agriculture. This is the year time. This is the year time now to grant the fair licences and to do something that is a fair licencing system in place. But if you're saying that you're going to, not to go to put a deadline at a time, at a time frame, forget about it.