asked the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry whether he has satisfied himself with forestry development in the country; whether he feels that with more afforestation we might reduce our reliance on imported timber and allied products such as paper, packaging and newsprint; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Very substantial progress has been made to date in relation to the development of Irish forestry especially in the period since the mid-fifties. Indeed I would go so far as to say that the State afforestation programme represents one of our greatest modern achievements.

The overall policy objective continues to be the planting of 10,000 hectares per annum but the present reserve of plantable land is such that this level of afforestation is not practicable in the short term at any rate. However, efforts are continuing to increase the reserve of land for State forestry and also to encourage the private sector to make a more significant contribution than heretofore to the national afforestation programme.

Even though a very high proportion of our forests are still too young to produce marketable material, the timber supplies which are becoming increasingly available according as the forests mature and expand are being — and will continue to be — used in the interests of import substitution.

I appreciate the work that has been done by the Minister's Department in the past number of years but I am sure the Minister will agree that we have a problem given the amount of imported timber and allied products every year. I would ask the Minister whether he is satisfied that incentives exist to encourage the private sector to involve itself in policy development. Perhaps the Minister would also indicate the amount of land that is available that would be suitable for afforestation and that is now in private hands? I acknowledge the difficulty the Government have at this time in providing funds but I wonder if more could be done to encourage the private sector to involve itself in this industry?

I have not got the information in relation to the amount of land available but the Deputy can take it that a substantial area of marginal land that is suitable for forestry is available. The Deputy will also accept, I am sure, that there has been down the years a fair degree of antagonism or that people have not been prepared to allow afforestation to take place on their lands. There is an incentive scheme. There is a grant per acre which is a very substantial grant but which unfortunately up to now has not been availed of. The problem in relation to the present state of affairs is that new planting will not change the current situation. The planting that has taken place over the past two decades or that will take place over the next two decades will not change the current situation. Nature must take its course. Forests planted 40 years ago are now coming on stream as productive units. While we will continue to make efforts to extend the area of land planted it will not make any great immediate difference to the present position, which is fairly critical. We are making every effort to improve the position in the long term.

I am trying to find out what the position is. The Minister says there is a substantial amount of land available. Is that within his Department or is it in the country generally? Are the Department able to buy it or are the people who own land willing to have it used for forestry purposes? My concern is that whatever incentive exists at the moment, as the Minister pointed out, has not been made use of. That means that it has not worked as an incentive. This is very much a long-term programme. The situation is critical and is of great importance. Would the Minister and his Department review the incentive available to the private sector so that the private sector could involve itself directly, with the aid of grants, such as the turf development grants payable through Bord na Móna?

As I indicated in relation to the previous question there is at the moment before the Government a memorandum doing exactly what the Deputy is suggesting, in other words, indicating other means that might be used for getting more people interested in the development of their land through afforestation. The Deputy will appreciate that because of the timing of the question and because of the fact that this would not have been discussed by the Government, even though it has been circulated, I cannot give details of what this contains, but the Deputy can take it that this matter is in hands and hopefully will have beneficial results.