Mr. Jason Fleming:

Yes. That is because the tree is unstable and the tree needs to be taken down piece by piece. Either side of the road has to be blocked. A qualified tree surgeon needs to do that. Members can imagine the costs there are nine or ten of those trees along the side of the road. What they, we, and what the committee is saying is that this should be covered by the county councils. They are passing it over that these trees are the responsibility of the farmers but ash dieback is not a farmer’s responsibility. It is one for the Department and it should be doing something about that. We highlighted that this morning with the Minister.

There is money within the system. Some €35 million went back to the Exchequer from the forestry section in 2021. Something similar happened in 2020 and, in 2022, I presume something along the same lines happened. We are talking about the bones of €80 million to €90 million that could be spent on compensation for ash dieback farmers to deal with the issue of the roadside trees, and so on.

On the carbon credits, we as farmers should be recognised for the credits we produce. This is a big thing going forward, as we all know, but we, as farmers, are not recognised for the credits we produce between grassland, hedgerows and forestry. I am a suckler farmer. I cannot offset, which is happening all over the country. my suckler farming against the credits I produce on my farm due to the simple fact that forestry is coming under the land use, land-use change and forestry, LULUCF, sector and the sooner that forestry is recognised and comes under the umbrella of agriculture, the better for us on the ground, in the way that we can draw down these credits, and so on.

I forgot to mention Gresham House. Gresham House came to Scotland. This was mentioned earlier. From what I have heard, it bought every available acre that was for sale in Scotland. It went in under the same pretence under which it came into this country, where it is now buying 12,000 ha or whatever.

As for the land type being planted, as was stated earlier, the days of planting on peat soils, bogs, heather ground, in special protection areas and on hen harrier land are gone. Farmers are clear-felling some of those sites, and the Department is taking this on a case-by-case basis as to whether they will have to fulfil the replanting obligation. The Department knows exactly what type of soil it is dealing with in these areas and should not go on a case-by-case basis. We may have to go to the planner, which then costs money, adding additional cost for farmers. With, say, heather ground, carbon and so on come into play. That should be dealt with as well.

Every euro we are given as farmers on the ground for planting and the promotion of planting will be spent in the local shop or the local hardware store and will keep the local schools open. If these smallholdings are sold to investment funds and the lights go out, they will never go back on again. We have to keep rural Ireland open. It is as simple as that. If the likes of Gresham House are not stopped at the 12,000 ha mark, it will decimate rural Ireland. That is if the deal is done, and who is to say it will not be? It comes back to football teams, and even local banks. Some banks are operating on a cashless basis at the moment. Trying to speak to someone in your local branch is impossible. The banks want to push customers over to machines and so on. As I said, when I was a young fella, there were three or four shops in my area. There is only one shop now. We have been trying to keep those shops open.