Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like others this morning, I welcome the announcement of the €79.5 million towards the crop affected by ash dieback and the growers who have been affected big-time on this. It is an issue I have raised previously. I warmly welcome today's announcement which will go some way to compensate those people and help them to get a crop reinstated. As everyone will be aware, nothing could compensate the people for what they have lost in their investment and the hardship they have personally gone through. I commend Limerick and Tipperary Woodland Owners, the group that lobbied strongest and hardest on this. We have had representatives before the agriculture committee on numerous occasions and indeed the issue has been raised in this Chamber on numerous occasions.

While I genuinely welcome this, and while it goes a long way towards compensating people, I have to add that the last issue I raised in this Chamber about ash dieback was that of roadside trees and the danger they pose. This scheme will only focus on plantations and people who have planted forestry. There is not a road or side road in any local authority area or parish in Ireland that does not have ash trees that are dying because of this disease. They are a danger in storms but some are so badly decayed they will fall without a storm. In all my dealings with this, the problem I have run into is the fact that it is cross-departmental. Once you start talking about roadside trees you involve the Department of Transport. Then it becomes a local authority issue so you are talking about the Department of local government. It is not actually an agricultural issue as such. Maybe the Leader could facilitate a debate with whichever Department she thinks can make progress on this, or maybe she could manage to get three Ministers in here for one debate.