Eileen Lynch (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. It provides great clarity. It is no harm to call it out in the manner in which he did. It is important that is done. What the Minister of State said about the graph and the way in which it actually works in reality makes perfect sense. It is important that message gets out there in light of the statement in the Irish Independent today. On ash dieback, I appreciate most of the questions have been asked. What progress has been made in research or trialling resistant ash strains? Is that being done working with our UK and European counterparts? Ash dieback is an issue all over Europe. How much funding will be allocated to research on forest health, pests and diseases such as ash dieback? What has been learned from ash dieback? The Minister of State spoke to Deputy Cooney, I think, about the safeguarding from future diseases team which is in place. What measures are in place now that were not in place prior to 2012? It is quite likely we could see the emergence of more diseases like this. Are we as prepared as we should be? Have we taken on board all the lessons that should have been learned from ash dieback?