Danny Healy-Rae urges minister to sign felling licences
Danny Healy-Rae spoke about the forestry industry and urged the Minister for Agriculture to sign off on felling licences. He said the sector is "on their knees" and warned harvesters, hauliers, sawmills and contractors face losing work due to a small number of objectors.
Urgent plea for licences
He asked the Taoiseach to request that the Minister for Agriculture approve felling licences so the harvest can proceed and workers can keep their jobs.
Impact on forestry supply chain
He highlighted the range of trades affected - harvesters, hauliers, plantar contractors that build the roads, sawmills and the planters - saying all of them are at risk of being out of work.
Concerns about objectors
He criticised a small number of people who have put in objections, saying what they have done "to tarnish people is a scandal" and that their actions have harmed livelihoods.
Appeal to political leadership
He directly appealed to the Taoiseach to act and to ask the Minister for Agriculture to sign off on licences to prevent job losses and protect the forestry industry.
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I want to raise with you again the forestry industry and the sawmills and all that, they're on their knees, Taoiseach, and I'm asking you to ask the Minister for Agriculture to sign off on the felling licences because the harvesters, the hauliers, the plantar contractors that build the roads, the sawmills and the planters, all of them are going to be out of work. And the people that have, you know, put in objections, and they're a small few people, what they have done to tarnish people is a scandal, Taoiseach. And if they were in any other country, they'd be dealt with it in a very different way. But I'm asking, you know, to sign off on the licences.
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