Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

My point concerns the percentage referred to for Scots pine. I am not going to rehash the amendment, but I would be interested in the Minister of State putting on the record his view, or that of the departmental officials, in respect of that percentage not being reduced. I had suggested we reduce it. This is just a commentary now, but I made that suggestion because of what we know about Scots pine. My colleague, Senator Boylan, is correct when she talked about the indigenous pine species found in the Burren. In fairness to the school of botany in Trinity College, it did a great deal of work on this and has written a paper on it. A disease, dothistroma, or needle blight, is now threatening pines. It is caused by a fungal pathogen. This is not me making stuff up. This is according to Teagasc and people in the National Botanic Gardens and in the school of botany in Trinity College. The symptoms appear as red bands on needles that are affected, and this leads to premature needle death.

This is now a common issue for pines, yet we are now going to say that it is permissible for people to plant up to 25% of these trees. I think we need to be cautious. We had experience of Dutch elm disease years ago. I am concerned when such a large percentage of planting is concentrated on one species. I am not against pines of any description, but I am conscious that we now have ash dieback and we are seeing the real devastation that is causing around the country. When there is heavy investment in one species, especially in small plantations, I think we should tread softly. I am not expecting the Minister of State to change anything in this legislation here today, but I would like the Department to be mindful that this fungal pathogen is now presenting us with a serious threat concerning our pine species. We are getting reports about it every day. There are EU passports, etc., that cover health in this area. This is something, however, that we should be concerned about and that is why I urge caution regarding this percentage of pine being planted in these mixed plantings. This is something we can be conscious of and, as the Minister of State said, these are ongoing issues and ones we must be seriously careful about.