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

I thank the Minister, the Minister of State and their officials for attending. When it comes to forestry, much of the conversation is around the lack of confidence in the sector and the need to rebuild same if we are to have a sector that functions at all. Interestingly, the Minister stated: “If we wish to have a successful programme, we need ... to reverse the declining interest in forestry”. There is certainly no lack of interest. The main issue I see is ash dieback. Were I even half-interested in planting and I saw how farmers and foresters who, through no fault of their own, had been affected by ash dieback were not being supported – the evidence is all there and the independent report published yesterday was damning of the Government’s lack of support for these farmers and foresters – I would not be looking to plant. I would be afraid to, and rightly so.

The independent report spoke about any progress in forestry being “put in jeopardy” by the handling of the ash dieback scheme. It reads: "we cannot over-state how important the handling of this situation is for the wider delivery of the Forest Strategy". We have to get the ash dieback issue resolved once and for all. It has been in play for more than a decade. As the report stated, it is a national emergency. It is dangerous and a risk to health and safety, and I am unsure about what the Government is waiting for to act. There has been no urgency. In fairness to those who compiled the report, for which I commend them, it contained nothing new. The stakeholders have been saying all of this time and again. It would have been a much better use of time had the Government sat down with foresters, farmers and the wider sector. They would have told the Government what the issues were and what solutions were needed. Job done. Now, though, we will have a review, an implementation plan for the review and a review of the review before we know what is happening. We need money for those affected and we need to get this done.

Regarding the €2,000 clearance grant, is the Minister of State willing to allow for exceptional circumstances where €2,000 does not cover the cost of clearance? The report is clear that the State should bear the cost in the first instance. Is the Minister of State willing to go beyond €2,000 in exceptional circumstances on a case-by-case basis?

There have been several schemes. One scheme ceased in 2018 and there was a two-year gap before another began in 2020.

Again, there has been no urgency at all in relation to this. It is a really dangerous situation and a health and safety risk to people. I am very concerned about what is going to happen. People's lives may be at risk in relation to this matter. It has been allowed to go on and on and it is not being resolved, and that is massively hampering confidence in the sector.

In her opening statement, the Minister of State said the implementation plan will be published in due course. How much longer are we going to have to wait for action on this? She mentioned encouraging affected landowners to apply for the newly-launched scheme. I presume that is the existing scheme. The independent review does not speak very positively about the existing scheme. The feedback from the stakeholders is negative. They have said the existing scheme is flawed. Is the Minister of State, as the Minister with responsibility for this, actually encouraging landowners to apply for a scheme that the independent review has said is flawed and is not going to work? Even when the review goes on to talk about the new forestry programme, it still states that there are issues with that scheme. I could not, in good faith, encourage people affected by ash dieback to sign up to this new scheme when they do not know what they are going to get from it. The ash dieback issue needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible. We have not seen the urgency that is needed, and that is very concerning. We will not have a forestry programme, as the independent review states, if this issue is not dealt with once and for all. The independent review also discusses bark beetle and the implications of that, should it come into the country again. That is another issue. After ten years, we still cannot get anything right on ash dieback. That is a concern as well.

In relation to the new forestry programme, I ask the Minister of State to speak about the long and protracted process that she mentioned in her opening statement. We, or at least I, understood that it was only a matter of the EU rubber-stamping the forestry programme in relation to state aid. It then became apparent that questions were being asked way beyond state aid rules, particularly in relation to environmental aspects of the scheme. Can the Minister of State tell us about that process? I expect she did not intend the process to last as long as it did. That was certainly the impression that I got.

On the replanting obligation that is part of this programme, we have been told by the sector that some of the terms and conditions in the new programme will act as a barrier to farmers and will not help with getting the buy-in required. Was the replanting obligation a condition that came from Europe or was it inserted on this side? If we are confident that we have a good forestry programme, I do not see why we need to tie farmers into an obligation that ties up their land for generations possibly.

The issue of the percentage of broadleaf sowed for biodiversity has also been raised. Again, that is going to involve a commercial hit for farmers and landowners, who will be getting less economic value. We have been told it is going to impact take-up.

The Minister of State said that a lot of work had been done on licensing. I ask her to detail what that work has involved, what processes have been improved and what resources have been increased. The licensing plan is absolutely integral to this. I also want to ask about the timeline. If I apply for an afforestation licence today, how long will I wait? Can the Minister of State confirm that we will not see the backlogs that we saw last year?