Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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2463. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications that have been received by the Forest Service for approval under the reconstitution and underplanting scheme that was introduced in June 2020; the number of these applications that have been approved to enable landowners to remove their diseased ash trees and replant their land; if his Department have a target in terms of issuing approvals under this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18618/21]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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2464. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will act on the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine and introduce a 15 year premium from the date of replanting diseased ash and remove the age discrimination in the current scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18619/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2463 and 2464 together.

My Department launched the Reconstitution and Underplanting (Ash Dieback) Scheme in June, 2020 and received applications from that date. To date, my Department has received 265 applications for a total of 1,069 hectares. Of those, 24 applications have been approved, for 81 hectares.

Premium payments have already issued up to the time the crop became infected, therefore they restart from the date the last premium was paid. Additional payments are available for site clearance and for the establishment of a replacement crop. Older plantations near maturity have not been included for payment under RUS as it has been determined that they would have significant merchantable volumes of timber and therefore the landowner will be in a position to realise their timber revenue.