Continued investment in forestry is a "no brainer" at a time when the Government is looking for money for limited financial resources, Fine Gael has insisted.
Next year's planted forestry area is set to be the lowest since 1947 unless the capital expenditure budget for forestry is increased, the Association of Irish Forestry Consultants (AIFC) has warned.
Ireland has ratified the Convention on the European Forest Institute. The Convention on EFI has now been ratified by a total of 22 European countries.
The ratifying countries are now Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the UK.
Ireland calls for timber to be included in offsetting scheme
The Irish Parliament is calling on the EU to agree that the country can used forest carbon sinks to offset its non-Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) emissions.