Mr. John O'Connell:

It is specifically ash, yes. It is specific to ash. Ash is the only commercial crop that is viable. For instance, there is a promotional document that I got before I planted. I did a lot of research into planting hardwood. I think it was in 1988 that there was information from forest service of the then Department of Energy that said, "Grow ash for profit", plus a cash crop of, they suggested, Christmas trees. They said, "it all adds up". We are left with nothing.

Anyone else would get a salary and, at the end of tenure, he or she would get a pension. We have nothing.

I was talking to a man sitting beside me at last night's meeting and he told me he has 20 acres he wants to plant. He said that on the basis of what has occurred over the past five years, he will not plant because forestry is in a mess. I had never met the man before in my life. Last week, I got a call from another a man who bought a farm from his aunt. He borrowed the money. He has 100 acres of ash and he is at his wits' end. He has the bank on his back. He was hoping to be able to repay or help to repay the loan from his hurley butts but his ash is gone. With another case in west Cork, a man committed suicide because of the state of his ash plantation. The mental health effect of all of this is horrific. People just do not know what to do, and we are not getting any help.