The resignation of Senator Pippa Hackett as Minister of State with responsibility for forestry has been sought by the representative body for the private forestry sector in Ireland - the Social, Economic, Environmental Forestry Association (SEEFA).
SEEFA accused Minister Hackett of “negligence" and a "dereliction of duty” in the manner in which she has managed Ireland’s application for EU clearance for the new forestry programme.
The private forestry body was also highly critical of the performance of the Department of Agriculture’s forestry service.
“SEEFA is of the opinion that the sector has been misled in relation to the proposed new forestry scheme, to the detriment of its members who continued to invest in their businesses on the well-founded assumption that the new scheme would be operational from January 2023,” SEEFA stated.
“This misinformation, together with the failure to ensure that the scheme was implemented by the extended deadline of January 2023, can only be regarded as negligence and a dereliction of duty by Senator Hackett.
"It is for this reason that SEEFA now calls for Senator Hackett’s resignation as a matter of urgency,” the private forestry body insisted.
'Outrage'
The SEEFA expressed “outrage” that the proposed new forestry programme has not yet been implemented and it maintained that “senior officials from the forest service do not appear to be in a position to offer any insight into when it might be”.
“On Wednesday 5 July, a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture was suspended as two senior forest service officials did not have the information sought or, alternatively, were unwilling to furnish the information sought when questioned in relation to the European Commission’s response to Ireland’s application for state aid approval,” SEEFA pointed out.
“The committee members were ‘appalled’ at what they heard and SEEFA is in agreement with this sentiment,” the forestry body stated.
'Lack of interest'
“The fact that there is currently no operational forestry scheme for the first time since the commencement of private forestry in Ireland would point to a lack of interest on the part of the Minister of State with responsibility for forestry Senator Pippa Hackett in progressing commercial forestry,” SEEFA claimed.
The Irish Farmers Journal has contacted Minister Hackett for a response to the comments made by the forestry group.
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