James Heffernan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I once marked a man from County Meath who went on to captain the county in 2009 when it won the Nicky Rickard Cup and no ash was spared on that occasion. I note the Acting Chairman is from County Kerry, another county that is not noted for its hurling tradition.

The best game of hurling I witnessed was between the respective counties of the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and the Acting Chairman, Senator Moloney, two or three years ago in the Christy Ring Cup in Tralee. It was a fantastic game that ended with a score of something like 7-11 to 4-13. It had everything, including sendings off, rows and goals galore.

Yesterday I spoke to Edward Shanahan, a hurley maker from my neck of the woods. He told me that the Minister of State had impressed him with his swiftness in trying to combat this disease. While it is unfortunate, it is nothing to do with the current Administration that we have had to import so much ash in the past. The Minister of State has advised that we should be self-sufficient in ash by 2016, which I welcome and to which look forward.

This disease appeared first in County Leitrim. I was not aware that it had spread to the Minister of State's county and to some other counties. It is certainly a worrying development for our native ash, but I know the Minister of State is doing everything he can to combat it. It is not easy to combat as we have seen in other countries in Europe. Hurley makers welcome what the Minister of State is doing. There is a threat to hurley makers even though it is not huge. It relates to plastic hurleys manufactured in Malaysia which do not do anything for Irish jobs or the economy. The Minister of State said that 360,000 hurleys are made every year contributing approximately ¤5 million to the economy, which may be an underestimate. If hurleys cost between ¤20 and ¤30 and this is multiplied by 360,000 it comes to ¤9 million or ¤10 million.

Senator Ó Domhnaill mentioned the National Ploughing Championships, which I attended and at which I met many hurley makers from throughout the country. The issue of ash dieback did not seem to be on their radar at the time and the issue is one that seemed to be sprung upon us. I was taken aback by that. The Daily Telegraphrecently carried an interview with a Danish scientist and referred to a lack of communication in Europe. We know that the Danish ash has been virtually wiped out. Denmark is a small country, as is Ireland. If the ash dieback catches on, it could potentially spread like wildfire. This lady indicated it has been killing Poland's ash trees since 1992 but people had not known about it.

I know we are trying to burn the diseased trees and get rid of them and while that may do some good, the fungus on the dead trees lies in the ground all winter. Apparently spores are produced between July and September which are carried by the wind. If the wind starts to blow in the wrong direction, it could have catastrophic results for our ash trees.

I was given a timeline for what had happened since it was first discovered in this country with events occurring on 12 October, 16 October, 18 October, 26 October, 2 November and 7 November. The Minister of State has been most proactive, on which I congratulate him. We should not underestimate the potential for devastation of our native ash, especially when we are getting close to being self-sufficient.

There is a poster campaign and those in Teagasc offices and others have been informed. I urge the Minister of State to widen that to all the hurley makers because people come in to buy hurleys at this time of year. People will be stocking up because hurleys could become scarce if the importation of ash is to be curtailed. Perhaps they should be given an information leaflet to hand out. There is a fantastic network of GAA clubs. People walk the land and know the land, and it would help if they were educated and could identify the problem early. Perhaps GAA clubs should be given the posters. Annual general meetings and county conventions are being held at this time of the year and perhaps we should use those fora to inform the people. Many GAA club championship matches are being shown on TG4 at weekends at this time of year. Perhaps announcements could be carried at half time or before or after the programme because many GAA and hurling people will be watching those programmes. Those are my suggestions.

I commend the Minister of State for the work he has done. I hope we will not experience the same kind of devastation seen in other countries in Europe.