Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In 2011, the then Minister for Agriculture said he could not stop the import of plants from Holland as it was a member of the EU. However, it was stopped in 2012 by a statutory instrument in the Oireachtas, but it was too late.

The disease was already here. The Forestry Act says that the Minister has a duty of care to protect from diseases and pests from abroad. The people of Ireland were let down by the Government. Land needs to get back into production. The scheme to which the Minister refers provides €1,000 per acre. Yet, it costs them between €3,000 and €12,000, depending on the plantation.

Currently, it is costing the taxpayer millions of euro to try to eradicate Chinese knotweed. We are now importing peat from anywhere and everywhere. Bark beetle in pine trees is rampant in Scotland. This was under the Minister’s watch. The then Government was told in 2009. In 2011, it decided to act. In 2012, Oireachtas introduced an instrument. The then Government decided that under an instrument it was going to stop. The Government has let the foresters down. Has the Government told Europe that we do not have the forestry that they are talking about?

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