Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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I welcome our guests from Limerick and Tipperary Woodland Owners Limited. This is an issue throughout the country. When I was canvassing recently, many people raised with me the difficulties they have experienced. A large number of people have put their personal savings into this and were hoping it would be something for the future. Many have been advised and supported to go into forestry, and this is a disaster for many of them. It looks as though there needs to be an inquiry, although, I am afraid, nothing our guests are requesting is being adhered to. I kept note of the people in my constituency who had spoken to me about ash dieback, and when I heard about the compensation package, I rang them to tell them about it and asked them to come back to me. They came back to me to say that it was not adequate and that was a complete disaster in the context of what they felt was necessary. There has been a debacle over forestry since this Dáil came into being in 2020. We have been hopping from one disaster to another, with nobody at the top able to manage it.

Our guests said the clearance grant is €2,000 per hectare and that it could cost up to €7,000. They suggested the most effective and efficient to sort this out could be to have the forestry services contracted with those who carry out the clearance. Has any progress been made on that issue? Could it happen?