Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta O'Sullivan as an issue seo a ardú. I am taking this matter on behalf the of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, who has a speaking engagement in Longford this evening.

As the Deputy is aware, ash dieback disease has been more devastating in Ireland than Dutch elm disease. It is a relatively new airborne disease that has spread from eastern Europe and is now right throughout the natural range of ash in Europe and widespread in Ireland. Since the first finding of ash dieback disease in Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has provided support totalling over €7 million to owners of ash plantations impacted by ash dieback disease through the ash dieback reconstitution scheme, introduced in 2013, and more recently via the reconstitution and underplanting scheme, RUS, introduced in July 2020. Up to 31 December of last year, a total of 978 applications had been received into the RUS and these cover 3,783 ha. Of this total, 390 applications have been approved. Some 587 remain on hand, covering 2,543 ha, and these are at various stages of the approval process. In 2022, 228 ash dieback projects were approved, covering 1,230 ha.

Like all the other forestry schemes, the RUS expired on 31 December 2022. It provided 100% grant aid to landowners to clear their ash crop, replant with an alternate species and manage their forest until successfully established. For sites undergoing reconstitution under that scheme, forest owners were able to choose to replant with alternative species and the grant rates offered corresponded to the equivalent rate offered in the afforestation scheme. Forest owners still in receipt of afforestation premiums for their forests through the afforestation scheme continue to receive premiums paid at the rate appropriate to the species planted and outlined in the scheme document. Before Christmas, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage introduced legislation to remove the requirement for planning permission for projects less than 10 ha in size that involve the replacement of broadleaf high forest with conifer species. This has simplified the process for a large cohort of applications on hand and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, understands this will lead to an increase in RUS approvals being issued by his Department when the scheme reopens following state aid approval.

The Government has committed €1.3 billion to support the new forestry programme, which will cover the period from 2023 to 2027. It is intended to continue to offer a reconstitution scheme for ash dieback through the new programme. However, I have noted the Deputy's comments on the rates and will forward them to the Minister. Since taking office, the Minister has visited ash dieback sites. He has seen for himself the destruction caused by the ash dieback disease. He sees it every day in the hedgerows where he lives. The Minister has met representative organisations and individual forest owners and discussed this issue many times. He is more than aware of the genuine concerns among forest owners regarding the RUS and he has committed to reviewing all elements of the scheme to help address the concerns of landowners. He is also aware that the situation with the disease has changed since the time the previous scheme was launched. Silvicultural operations that may have been appropriate in the past are no longer appropriate. The Minister will take all these matters into account, including Deputy O'Sullivan's contribution this evening, in the review of the RUS.

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