Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Senator Pippa Hackett):

I thank Deputy Kerrane for the question. As she and everyone in the House knows, I take very seriously the effect that ash dieback has had on those landowners who planted ash under schemes my Department funded over the years. That is why I set up the independent review group last year. Its remit was to review the existing and previous supports available to those ash forest owners. In doing so, the group engaged extensively and at length with representative groups and individual landowners affected by ash dieback and their views are reflected in the final published report.

In response to that report, I secured Government approval, after a prolonged process, for an ash dieback action plan which addresses all 13 of the review group's recommendations. It provides for, among other things, an additional €79.5 million in funding to pay for a new climate action performance payment. This tax-free payment of €5,000 per hectare is available to those forest owners who fully engage with my Department's reconstitution schemes and carry out replanting. Under the new reconstitution for ash dieback scheme that opened last year, site clearance grants were doubled to €2,000 per hectare, which the review group accepted as a reasonable sum. Furthermore, grant and premium rates under the scheme were enhanced to the higher levels on offer in the new forestry programme. This now brings the overall financial package available to ash plantation owners who are dealing with or have dealt with ash dieback to over €230 million. I believe that the action plan, including the financial package, is a robust and definitive response to what has undoubtedly been a challenging and extremely difficult time for many farmers.

In terms of implementation of the action plan, we are engaging in an open and detailed manner with those affected by ash dieback. This is being facilitated through the ash dieback task force, which held a meeting on 28 May 2024. The task force comprises the relevant stakeholders, including representatives of ash forest owners, and its purpose is to facilitate a co-ordinated response and swift implementation of the action plan.

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