A few months ago, I attended a meeting in Thurles which was organised by Limerick and Tipperary Woodland Owners. The meeting was organised to address and highlight the issue of ash dieback, which affects many constituencies, including my own, Laois-Offaly. The Irish Farmers' Journal has reported that 6,000 families are affected and 70,000 acres in total are affected. Will compensation be provided to those affected? I know those affected, including many businesses which are involved in forestry as well as landowners and farmers, spoke. There is much upset and frustration. If we are to restore the confidence that has been lost in the forestry sector and encourage people to get involved in afforestation, it is essential that compensation packages be provided in the forthcoming budget. I am asking for certainty today.

I am afraid I cannot give the Deputy certainty today but it is something that we are considering. Many people who invested in forestry were encouraged to do so by Government and given Government grants. For many of them, this would potentially have been their pension. Now, through no fault of their own, they see their crop has been destroyed. For similar crops in similar circumstances, we would provide a compensation package. We are examining it seriously and sympathetically. We just need to see what is being done in other European countries, for example. We are genuinely going to make a decision on it sooner rather than later.