Mr. John O'Connell:

Ash is gone. Ash is dead. Some 5% of the trees may be resistant. However, it will take a long time to prove that and to get the seed to regenerate the ash from the seeds that may be resistant. That will take years. I reckon it will take generations. Ash is dead. In my plantation, I have 5 ha of ash. Last year, it looked okay. This year, my daughter was visiting at the weekend and we went through the plantation. My granddaughter was with us. My granddaughter said to me, "Granddad, what is wrong with the trees?". I said, "They are sick." She asked, "What is going to become of them?". I said, "They are going to die". She asked, "Is anybody doing anything about it?". I said, "I cannot even cut them." I cannot even rescue or salvage whatever may be there for hurley butts because I need a felling licence. If I apply for a felling licence, it could take one, two, three or five years. It is ridiculous that we cannot manage our own plantations without this imposed regulation that is not applied in Europe. You do not need that in Scandinavia; you just inform the forest service that you are thinning and they give you the go-ahead. The way in which we are being treated is ridiculous. My granddaughter asked, "Granddad, is anybody helping you?". I said, "Nobody cares". My daughter was planning to come home to live where we are living to develop the forest and to retain it. We are pioneers. We have been very badly treated. We are pioneers. We have promoted forestry. I planted 27 years ago. I have won numerous awards. What are my awards worth now? I won the RDS Farm Forestry Award on two occasions. I was used an example of best practice. I have had people visit from all over the world. I had 30 Swedish visitors six weeks ago. I said, "I am embarrassed to show you this ash". Again, they asked me, "What is being done about it? Is there any support from the Government?". It is a disease that we have not introduced into our plantations.