Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is the Minister of State satisfied with the existing scheme for ash dieback? My reading is that the independent report states it is flawed. As people have not bought into it, clearly it is not working. She is asking us to encourage farmers and those affected by ash dieback to apply and get into the scheme. There might be changes and there might not be; they will not be affected if there are changes. How can we ask them to sign up to a scheme to seek support when the independent review states that the scheme is flawed in the first instance? I do not understand that at all. Compensation has been talked about for years. It is a great pity that the Minister of State is only now looking to Europe as regards state aid rules. She said the requests were brought and that was why there had to be a review. The request has been for the full cost of the clearance which varies - it is not always €2,000, the replanting, the premiums and the compensation. They have been the only requests and they remain the same. Is the Minister of State considering the ex gratia payment as mentioned in the report?

Will we have the licensing plan before the end of the year? Will we have it before the autumn recess and before Christmas?

I welcome the Minister of State's saying that she will meet representatives of the Social, Economic, Environmental Forestry Association, SEEFA, which was one of the first organisations I met when I became my party's spokesperson. It has a real wealth of knowledge in the area.