Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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280. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will seek further funding to restore the farmer forestry premium; if he will introduce a harvesting plan grant; if he will review the ash dieback scheme to include an income compensation element; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27611/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Work on a new ambitious Forestry Programme is due to begin in the coming months. This will include a public consultation process and full stakeholder engagement across the sector. Restoration of the farmer premium and a grant for the harvesting plan can be considered within this consultation framework.

The Ash Dieback scheme was subject to a review starting in April 2018. A new approach was proposed and circulated for stakeholder consultation in December 2019, a total of 18 submissions were received in reply. All submissions were carefully considered, and a number of meetings held with stakeholders to finalise a new scheme document. The new Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme or RUS was launched in June 2020 and provided financial supports to owners of infected plantations of up to €6,220 per hectare to replant with an alternative species. While RUS did not include compensation for loss of income, it did provide for a broader range of silvicultural and management options aimed at maximizing the economic recovery from the crop.