Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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896. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of ash dieback RUS applications received by his Department; the number which have been approved; the number of such files that remain to be approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17558/22]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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898. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the area of ash applied for under the reconstitution and underplanting scheme; the area approved; the area remaining to be approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17560/22]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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899. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number and area of ash dieback reconstitution and underplanting scheme applications that his Department approved in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17561/22]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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900. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number and area of ash dieback reconstitution and underplanting scheme applications that his Department received in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17562/22]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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901. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of ash dieback reconstitution and underplanting scheme approvals that his Department expects to approve in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17563/22]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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929. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the dates his Department received the ash dieback RUS applications that remain unapproved by month in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17844/22]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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930. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the area of ash dieback RUS approvals his Department expects to approve in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17845/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 896, 898, 899, 900, 901, 929 and 930 together.

I will refer the Deputy to his Dáil question number 860 of 29th March, that since the first finding of ash dieback disease in Ireland, my Department has provided support totalling over €7 million to owners of ash plantations impacted by disease through the Reconstitution Scheme (Ash Dieback) (introduced in 2013) and more recently the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS – Ash dieback) introduced in July 2020.

Applications for RUS are received regularly, and decisions are issued as the assessment of the applications are completed.

The table below shows the total applications received, approved and on hand, including the area, since the commencement of the Scheme up to and including 1 April, 2022.

A total of 155 applications were decided in 2021 for a total of 492ha. A total of 389 applications were received in 2021, covering 1,628 ha.

The table below shows the breakdown of the applications on hand and the year in which that application was made.

Thus, number awaiting a decision is 403 for 1,772 ha

As the Deputy is aware the Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 was published earlier this year and deals with projected licensing output and approvals for support schemes and may be found here gov.ie - Forestry policy and strategy (www.gov.ie).

A key target of the plan is to refocus on the delivery on approvals from the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS) (Ash Dieback). However, the 2022 Plan does not include an annual target as many RUS applications are screened in for Appropriate Assessment and are referred to ecology. Of these, any that propose replacing the ash crop with conifer species currently require planning permission.

My Department continues to engage with the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH), who are very supportive of the objective of removing the planning permission requirement for these files.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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897. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total area of ash plantations potentially infected with ash dieback in the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17559/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The damage caused by ash dieback disease is rapidly increasing in Europe and Ireland. It is likely in the coming years to have a catastrophic impact on ash wherever it occurs in the Irish landscape, including in hedgerows and in the wider natural environment.

The total area of grant aided ash is approximately 15,000 hectares. To date approximately 2,000 hectares of this grant aided ash has been cleared under the Departments schemes. The National Forest Inventory (2017), a sample inventory, concluded that in total there was 25,000 hectares of ash (+/- 5,000 hectares).

Such is the presence of the disease, all ash forests in Ireland at this point can be deemed potentially infected by ash dieback to a greater or lesser degree.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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902. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when his Department intends to integrate data on hen harrier winter roosts (details supplied) into databases in order to inform licensing decisions that are compliant with Irish and European Union environmental law; the reason for the delay in doing so to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17565/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department recognises its responsibilities regarding the conservation of Hen Harrier, and is fully engaged in the development of the Threat Response Plan, led by the National Parks & Wildlife Service, Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage.

We are supplied a High Likelihood of Nesting Areas (HLNAs) GIS layer from the NPWS, in order to underpin the application of its procedures developed to avoid disruption to breeding Hen Harrier within designated SPAs, arising from certain forestry operations. This GIS layer has in recent years incorporated data from the Hen Harrier EIP Project and its partner, the Golden Eagle Trust, subject to data confidentiality. The HLNA layer is fully integrated into iFORIS and the QGIS system used by Ecologists involved in assessing applications. This HLNA layer does not include information regarding Hen Harrier winter roosts.

The Department does not have data concerning the Hen Harrier winter roosting sites. On a case-by-case basis, where it becomes aware of the presence of a roost site, through referral responses from NPWS, submissions from third parties or other means, the Department attaches appropriate conditions to the licence and / or grant approval, if issued.