Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is a bugbear on mine. The capital value of that land was decimated with the designation. While some schemes were put in place, they have not restored the capital value. I appreciate that this matter is under review.

My final point will be on ash dieback. It has not been referred to much today, although it was mentioned by Deputy Browne. It is a serious problem in my county and the surrounding counties. I am unhappy for the plantation owners. What has been put on the table for them is not financially satisfactory. We will not get into how the disease entered the country, but one thing is certain - it was not the plantation owners' fault. They bought their plants in good faith and, unfortunately, their plantations have been decimated by the disease. The ash trees withering away on those plantations is a sorry sight. If this was a disease outbreak in cattle, there would be compensation for the farmer. Following weather events, significant compensation has been put in place for tillage farmers and others whose property has suffered damage from wind or rain. In this instance, though, a large number of farmers who planted their land with ash and justifiably expected to have a significant cash crop to harvest after 35 or 40 years now find that, when they pay the cost of labour to clear the site, their crops are worthless.

I have made a suggestion at this committee and other forums. If those people decide to replant their sites - everyone should be given that choice - after clearing them, it would only be natural justice if they again had access to the forestry premium. They are starting from scratch and, unlike other plantation owners after clearfelling, have had no cash benefit. To have no premium available to them when they replant would be unjust and unfair. Reasonable compensation is always put in place for affected parties where virtually every other disease at farm level is concerned, and rightly so. The situation of plantation owners whose trees are diseased is no different than a disease in cattle or damage done by a weather event, but they have been left high and dry and proper financial compensation has not been put in place for them. Will Mr. Gleeson use his influence to see if they can access the premium again for a 15-year period? That would be a reasonable and fair economic solution for them. No one would have to admit liability in terms of where the disease came from. If it got through a security breach or whatever, I do not want to get into that argument. These plantation owners deserve to access the premium. It would give them a chance to replant and have confidence in forestry again.