Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. The scheme is quite new. It has only been running for six or eight months so I suggest that we give it time and there is no reason we cannot look at things further down the line.

The other day I saw the television programme on bamboo now being used to make hurleys and the Senator raised important points about the importation of wood, trees or, indeed, other plants into this country. Ireland as an island has a very high status in terms of plant health and, indeed, one of the highest in Europe and the world. We want to retain our status so we have to be very careful about what we bring into our country. I thank the Senator for raising the point. I hope that we end up being able to develop or pick out the varieties tolerant to ash dieback. I concur that ash plays an important role in our country and it would be really sad to see it gone.