Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith ag an Aire Stáit as a bheith anseo to talk about this important issue for the forestry sector. When we remember that 10% of the land mass of Ireland is under forest, we can see the importance of dealing with this issue in a comprehensive manner. The Minister of State has done that to the best of his ability, which I acknowledge.

Ash dieback disease, Chalara fraxinea, is extremely worrying. Its origins are unknown, although it is confined to a number of countries. We import 200,000 ash plants every year and they come from various countries, including the Netherlands and other European continental countries. This is a cause of concern. The issue emerged initially in County Leitrim and my colleague, Senator Paschal Mooney, who comes from County Leitrim, will be raising his concerns. We must remember that 3% of Irish forests are ash forests, 10% of the 2011 planting programme was ash, more than 70% of hurleys used in Ireland come from imported ash wood and around 350,000 hurleys are produced annually in Ireland. However, I do not see many of them in County Donegal. We play with a different size ball, and we had some success this year.

I met Mr. Lar Corbett, the famous hurler, at the National Ploughing Championships. He has set up his own business selling hurleys and there is now a Lar Corbett hurley. There are, of course, many other types of hurley. Mr. Corbett explained to me how he was establishing a business and that he was planning to travel to each county to promote it. He will be welcome in County Donegal when he comes north.

This issue will affect business and industry. It is important that the Minister of State has taken steps to protect the forestry industry and secondary industries, such as hurley making. Ash can also be used for furniture making and as wood chips. It is important that protective measures are put in place.

The British Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Mr. Owen Paterson, admitted that it was almost impossible to deal with the problem. In the United Kingdom, steps have been taken to eradicate ash dieback disease but the Secretary of State admitted that it will be almost impossible to do so. An action plan has been put in place with the primary goal of removing and destroying diseased young trees. There are no plans to remove mature trees which are important for wild life and efforts will focus on developing resistance to the disease. Conservation groups in Britain welcomed their Government's assurance that no mature trees will be cut down.

The problem has been in these shores since 12 October, with the outbreak in Country Leitrim. This is something we must deal with. There has been coverage in the farming media of the work being done by the Minister of State and how it can be developed. It is important that the Minister of State met with the Northern Ireland Minister of Agriculture to discuss how we can deal with the disease on an all-Ireland basis and what steps can be put in place. Does the statutory instrument put in place by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to ban the importation of ash trees include a complete ban on imported ash trees? I assume it does. Steps such as that must be taken until the disease is eradicated, because it has far reaching and wide consequences for the industry and for the development of products derived from ash.

What implications will the ban on imports have for the manufacture of hurleys? Does the ban include the importation of ash timber or only of ash trees?