An Oireachtas committee has heard communities are being driven into the ground due to the growth in afforestation in the Shannonside region.
Representatives from Save Groups, who are opposed to large scale forestry plantations, recently addressed a meeting of the Dail's Agriculture Committee.
Save Leitrim spokesperson Brian Smyth claimed that forestry not only impacts the local environment but also has a detrimental impact on local economies.
He also suggested that because forestry is exempted from the regular planning process there is a major issue with the licencing system:
"The licencing for felling and replanting are outside of the local authority so there is no democratic input to the process unless you pay your twenty or two-hundred euro for the appeal and the grounds of the appeal are so narrow that the considerations we are explaining are not examined in that process.
A lot of it is focusing on areas where there is a perception the land is so poor what would you do with it anyway and it is driving our communities into the ground."
