Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 16 July 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food

Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion

2:00 am

Photo of Martin KennyMartin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I will move on to the huge problem we have in my part of the country with the windblow since Christmas. A lot of forestry was blown down. A lot of it has been granted licences. Some had licences already. Many have been issued licences since. There are still some problems in getting licences for people where various objections have been lodged and different things. However, the part that is a problem is that I have come across several people who had forests that were not mature trees. They were planted perhaps 15 to 20 years ago. The value of them is low. They were probably ready for thinning or a little past that. They have been blown down. With a clearfell licence, they will not get any price for the timber. They are the people who have a serious problem because people who have mature timber, even if it is windblown and will cost a little more to harvest, can at least get a decent price. Can anything additional be done for the people in the other category?