Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The two issues I wish to address are of environmental concern and require legislation. I would welcome legislation to deal with both.

The first issue I wish to address is that of Japanese knotweed. It is a dire problem which has been encountered in Europe since the 1800s. It is an issue the Cathaoirleach raised in the House last year. The plant grows at a rate of 8 in. per day. Across Britain it has destroyed houses, causing 200,000 people to move out of their homes and making their houses worthless. In this country, in Kenmare Community Hospital, it cost €100,000 to have it eradicated. The cost of clearing it from the grounds of the London Olympics ran to an astonishing £70 million. It poses a serious threat to the construction industry in this country which is only getting back on its feet. It cannot be burned or eliminated by being cut. It needs a particular intervention, which we are not seeing. For the first time I have seen on the back of the product Roundup, a weedkiller, an application to tackle it. However, we need a national policy to deal with it. We need the Minister to come into the House to discuss the matter and legislate because, as matters stands, it is only due to the goodwill of people working in local authorities, hedge-cutters, etc., that the position is not worse. We also need an awareness and education campaign in order that people can recognise it and will know how to deal with it.

The second issue I want to raise is that of ash dieback, a disease which has only been present in this country since 2006. It is an aggressive disease which is easily spread by airborne spores. A survey in 2013 found that there were 46 cases in Ireland. By the end of 2015 there had been 200 discoveries. The disease is prevalent in two counties, probably the best hurling counties in the country, namely, Tipperary and Kilkenny. Funnily enough, it is also prevalent in County Leitrim, even though hurling is not played there. On a more serious note, the disease could spread across the country and without any intervention will destroy the hurley-making business. I was surprised to discover that 350,000 hurleys were made per year in Ireland, at an average cost of €30 per hurley. That makes it a €10 million industry. We, therefore, need to tackle the spread of the plant. Teagasc has done some work on the issue and held a number of awareness campaigns and public meetings, but the problem is that the Department's reconstitution scheme, as it is called, only protects forestry and foresters. There is no facility to assist the smaller guy who might have planted a small number of ash trees. Therefore, the problem is prone to spread across the country. Yesterday the Vice President of the United States, Mr. Joe Biden, began his visit to this country and, as is the norm, was presented with an ash hurley by the Taoiseach. This week in Limerick, in an intermediate hurling game, six of the players on the field used plastic hurleys. Therefore, if we do not do something about the problem, the next time a Head of State or a vice president comes to the country, it is a plastic hurley he or she will be given instead of one made of ash.