Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Deputy there is no cover-up here. We have been transparent with the figures, with the output each week and with the reasons behind backlogs and the different backlogs that have existed. The Deputy will have seen from my opening statement I did not make any comparison to 2020. I appreciate where the Deputy is coming from. Many comparisons are made with 2020. I am only in the position 13 months. I was not here before 2020, nor was the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, but I take the Deputy's point in that 2020 was not a good year. It is not the best comparison but we try to compare with other years and I indicated that we had the highest number of licences issued in June of this year, at 415, compared with July 2019. That is a positive trend. That is something and I would like to think it would instil some confidence in the committee that we are on the right path here. We have implemented system changes. We have taken on more resources, ecologists, forestry inspectors and so forth. From June alone, if we just look at this June, we have seen an improvement over the previous number of months. That is to be welcomed.

We have always imported timber into this country. We are probably importing more now than we should be and that is something we want to see the end of but it is not a case that we are only importing timber now. We have always imported timber, in some shape or form, into Ireland. Many of the stakeholders on Project Woodland, of whom I have 24 or 25, are representatives of the industry, the growers, the environmental sector and the community. There is engagement there across the sector. It is not an easy engagement to keep together. I commend each and every one of them on sticking with the process because it is frustrating for many of them, for different reasons. It is important they are interacting in a collaborative fashion, which is to be welcomed.

With regard to the Deputy's ash dieback query, we have in the past week or so extended the age to which plantations can avail of the scheme. That has been widely welcomed. The Deputy made reference to the TB scheme and that is, in a way, what the ash dieback scheme replicates because if you are a farmer unlucky enough to go down with TB, the animals that have TB are compensated for and removed but there is no knock-on payment for calves the animal may have had or milk lost. In a way, the ash dieback scheme is similar. You are compensated to remove and replant the trees but we are not extending the premium out and that is something we are not considering.

The ash dieback scheme is under review, because things keep changing. Originally, a number of years ago, the purpose with regard to ash dieback was to try to prevent its spread. We now know it is endemic in the country. It is no longer about prevention. It is about trying to slow down the spread and do what we can. Extending it to plantations over 25 years has been widely welcomed. I am happy to see that. I know the lady the Deputy referred to and I indicated that I would, when I got the chance, visit her plantation. I will stick by that, as soon as I get the opportunity.