Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply and update on the 2020 scheme. The number is still small in terms of the amount of people who have sought assistance but I do accept that quite a number of them might not engage at all.

I am delighted that the Minister of State mentioned the traditional making of the hurley stick from ash. I do not know what the phrase the clash of the ash will mean any more but we will have to make something about bamboo because it is now being imported from China to make hurley sticks. The importation of bamboo and the danger of outside pests being brought into the country that could do more damage to our horticultural industry concerns me as well.

I again ask the Minister of State to see if there is any more tweaking she can do to the scheme to help these people because they have told me that for a lot of them engaging in the scheme as it is, or seeking assistance from it, does not make much sense. The tree family of ash is a beautiful horticultural thing and very much part of our countryside. We all hope that we will reach a situation, and it was great to hear about research, where the ash will come back to take its rightful place in the Irish countryside.