Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will get closer to the microphone. Could we give grants to community groups to plant alternative trees? I realise that Coillte is overseeing this area. If grant assistance were available, it might get local communities more interested in the problem and raise awareness of the issue even further.

This is an opportunity to consider an environmental issue. I mentioned the Brent goose when we debated another environmental issue in this House some years ago. I have mentioned the Brent goose on a few occasions since then because I have taken a real interest in it. The Brent goose arrives on 23 October and leaves on 23 April, which was just last week. After I mentioned the Brent goose during a debate in the Seanad some years ago, I was contacted by RTE as I was considered to be an expert on it. I would love to become an expert on the ash tree and on the problems in this area.

As we are having a debate on the environment and on what can happen here, I would like the Minister of State to comment on biodiversity. I could not get over it when I learned that 955 species, including the wood mouse, the squirrel, the bullfinch, the wren, the bat and the beetle, reportedly rely on ash trees. It seems that 45 of these species - certain beetles, moths and flies - rely solely on ash trees. Is it likely that such species will decline or even become extinct in Ireland due to the cutting of ash trees? What sort of measures are we taking to address this issue? We probably feel we could do without beetles, moths and flies, but we should remember what happened in China under Mao when he decided to get rid of the sparrow. It created havoc because it is all part of the environment, of nature and of what is needed.

I was interested to hear that scientists based in the UK are sequencing the genome of a resistant tree, known as tree 35, which was found in Denmark. Perhaps there is a future for ash trees. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

It is worth drawing attention appropriately to a book, The Ash Tree, by Mr. Oliver Rackham, that was published recently. I am sure the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has considered the book, which argues that forestry services should:

Plant fewer trees, more expensive trees, wider apart, and take proper care of them. Stop making tree-planting a default option. Revive the science [or study] of tree pathology [or disease].

While I have not read the entire book - I have seen a few quotes from it - I am sure it is a very interesting book to have a look at. The point made by Mr. Rackham is that we should move beyond forestry as a commercially planned and executed commodity and towards a consideration of the ecological constraints and risks that apply to it. One of the more interesting arguments in his book is that we should forget about thinking about winning the ash dieback disease fight as it is futile. According to Mr. Rackham, it would be much better to concentrate on the next wave of invader coming behind ash dieback, the emerald ash borer beetle, about which I had not heard before but which he calls "one of the most feared beetles on earth". Are we considering this potential new threat? What, if anything, can we do to protect ourselves from such threats? I would be interested to hear the Minister of State's views on this. Do we have any plan for this particular threat or similar threats?

I know that when the question of ash dieback first cropped up in 2012 - at least that was when we first heard of it - people immediately thought about hurling. It was interesting to hear Senator Ó Domhnaill speaking about the effect of this problem on hurling. In 2012, people were concerned that we would have to import ash from elsewhere in order to be able to play our national game. It seemed out of the question that timber from some other country would have to be used. It looks like that is something we are going to have to live with unless we manage to overcome this problem. I am delighted this debate is taking place today in the presence of the Minister of State and his team. I believe this matter is worthy of debate and of the action the Minister of State has promised to take.