Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Aon uair a chloisim faoi ash dieback, ní féidir liom ach smaoineamh ar an iar-Aire Stáit, Shane McEntee, nach maireann, go ndéana Dia trócaire air, mar gurb é a thógadh na díospóireachtaí ar an ábhar sin sa Teach seo. Smaoinimid go háirid inniu air.

Any time I hear of ash dieback, I recall the former Minister of State, the late Shane McEntee, taking the debates here in the House. It was a lovely gesture that we actually planted a tree in his honour in the back garden in Leinster House. It is important that we remember him during this debate.

I, too, welcome the comments on the co-operation with the North. It is very positive that there is such great co-operation. It is quite amusing that, at times, certain Senators try to intimate Sinn Féin is not fit to be in government anywhere at all, but it is quite obvious from the co-operation between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in particular, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the North that we are certainly well up for the game. Minister O'Neill is doing a very good job and works very well with all the Ministers here. We intend to do this across all Departments if we are in government.

I liked Senator Quinn's thoughts on community grants to help with the replanting of the trees. Certainly, we need to increase our biodiversity. I recommend a model used in Galway by Terryland Forest Park. We have seen that a tract of unused land that people regarded as unfit for anything could be turned into a wonderful education facility and city forest park.

As we have seen, ash dieback has been found at 120 locations nationwide and resulted in the felling of 1,300 acres of forest, according to media sources. The Minister might comment on that because his figures indicate 694 acres have been felled and replanted. Has the acreage mentioned by the media been felled but not replanted? Despite concerted official attempts to eradicate ash dieback, the number of cases has doubled in the past year. The disease has now been found in every county except Roscommon, Westmeath, Louth and Laois. The Native Woodland Trust warned that the disease has spread so widely for so long that it is now "unstoppable". According to the trust's chairman, Jim Lawlor, the first case of the disease was discovered in ash plants that had been imported three years earlier. This meant the disease had a long time to spread before its discovery prompted action to try and eradicate it.

Ash dieback disease spreads very rapidly and can infect trees within a 25-mile radius every year, which means the 149 cases the Minister of State mentioned could spread very quickly if we do not continue to be vigilant. The only hope for Irish ash trees is that some native varieties will have sufficient genetic resistance and not succumb to it. As the Minister of State knows, Teagasc's forestry expert has noted the only hopeful sign is that nearly all cases of ash dieback have been in young trees rather than more established ones. One of the negative consequences of the spread of ash dieback is that official restrictions on ash imports related to the disease have led to prices for ash wood rising from around €9.50 or €10 per plank to €12. This has the potential to have serious consequences for indigenous SMEs, especially those involved in the hurley-making business.

Ash has a very strong cultural place in Irish society as the wood for hurleys. The disease highlights the need for a scientific approach to tree breeding and genetics to make sure we are planting the right varieties in the future.

The extensive areas that have been cleared of trees comprise an obvious source of concern. The figures include areas cleared on a preventative basis where trees were found to be from the same batch as infected trees. Has there been an investigation into how the trees were brought to the country initially? We know it came from imported ash. Are there consequences for those who might have been involved in the importation? Were they even aware they were importing affected trees? The Minister of State might share information on this if he has any.

As the Minister of State said, there have been 59 confirmed cases in ash plantations, with 19 in horticultural nurseries. There have been cases concerning farm and roadside planting, with others in hedgerows, garden centres and private gardens.

Meanwhile, another tree-killer, Japanese larch disease, has now been detected in 30 locations. Gougane Barra forest park in County Cork has been laid to waste by the disease, as a major outbreak there has led to 16,000 trees being felled, with the park to remain closed until summer. It is now very clear that ash dieback has spread the length and breadth of the island. Across the water in Britain, in 2012, the disease was found in 291 sites. By January of this year, officials found the disease in 949 sites. Most experts now accept there is little chance of killing the disease, with all activity focused on simply slowing its spread. Scientific research and official reports from both Britain and Ireland suggest that Government efforts so far have had little impact. In the United Kingdom, more than £16.5 million has been spent tackling ash dieback and other tree diseases, including on trying to find a strain of ash resistant to the Chalara fungus. That search has so far been fruitless and scientists believe the ash problem will eventually spread into every woodland in the country. The problem is the biggest threat to Irish woodlands since Dutch elm disease killed off millions of mature trees in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ash dieback has considerable environmental implications and could have a devastating impact on other species. A total of 955 species rely on ash trees, including wood mice, squirrels, bullfinches, wrens, bats and beetles. Of these, 45 species rely solely on ash, including the large ash bark beetle, centre-barred sallow moth and scarce yellow pinter crane fly, which are all likely to become extinct in Ireland. The disease, which causes rapid leaf loss, works particularly quickly on young plants, killing them within a year. We are all in agreement that this is very serious. We support the Departments, north and south, in the eradication of this disease. We certainly cannot let our guard down.