Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The recent storms have indeed been damaging to Irish forests particularly in the south of the country. Early indications suggest however that less than 1% of the forest area and approximately 1% of the forest volume was blown down in the storm of 12 February.

Whilst direct financial support is not being provided to those whose forestry was destroyed in the storm, a taskforce, chaired by Mr Tom Hayes TD, Minister of State, has been established to assess the damage nationally and to quickly identify the various issues arising as a result of this severe windblow event and to agree on a course of actions to deal with these issues.

The taskforce has issued a guidance note for forest owners, laying down the steps to consider in safely harvesting and selling the fallen trees and giving advice on a range of other associated issues.

Teagasc forestry advisers are available to meet any forest owner in the Teagasc Office for free advice. Forest owners are also urged to get professional advice from qualified foresters to guide them through this process. Furthermore, the Forest Service of my Department is also ready to facilitate those wishing to apply for felling licences to deal with the situation in the most appropriate manner. In this regard I would urge forest owners to mark their application ‘Storm Damage’ to allow it to be prioritised by the Forest Service.

I can confirm also that any premium payments that have not yet been paid for 2014 will be paid even if these forests have been affected by this windblow event.