Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our witnesses. I mean no offence but I wish to put something on the record. The representatives' group is called Limerick and Tipperary Woodland Owners but I stress that this issue does not affect Limerick and Tipperary only. I am from Westmeath and a farmer based outside Mullingar has contacted me with a serious problem in this regard. While I am not coming at the witnesses, it is important to note that this is a national issue, although the group deals with Tipperary and Limerick.

I have a couple of quick questions based on the submission. It states that there was a lack of engagement with regard to the establishment of the RUS. Was there any engagement at all? I would like to know what engagement there was in respect of the formation of that scheme because one of the complaints I have heard from the individual I mentioned and from others is that the scheme is not effective and not enough but that, even if it was, its implementation has been a disaster. It seems to be on park the whole time. Even if one engages with the Department in respect of the scheme, the can is kicked down the road and no progress is made. Regardless of the inefficiencies of the scheme itself, the Department is not operating it correctly. Perhaps the representatives will elaborate on their experiences in this regard.

I will ask a few more questions on the disease in order to inform myself as much as anything else. I will call it ash dieback rather than attempting to give it its full technical name. One first notices that an ash tree is affected because of obvious signs on the leaves. If immediate action is taken, is the timber still 100% useful or does it deteriorate or rot as the disease progresses? If I grow ash trees and see from the leaves that the trees are affected, and if I get the go-ahead from the Department to harvest the timber, would it be salvageable? I ask the witnesses to answer those questions as I believe they covered everything else in their submission.