Forestry licences and ash dieback
Deputy McNamara criticised very low forestry licensing numbers and warned that ash dieback and policy failures were discouraging planting. The Taoiseach said foresters needed more confidence, pointed to support schemes for ash dieback, and noted the native tree area scheme was open.
Earlier we discussed the climate emergency and the need to improve biodiversity, the environment etc. Forestry has been posited by the Taoiseach’s Department as a major plank of Government policy, yet up to two weeks ago, only 27 afforestation licences have been granted for the year to date. That is a historic low for the State. Ash dieback is a huge problem. Many owners of plantations which suffer from ash dieback say that people should not believe what the Government says and people should not plant their land because if there is a problem, people will find themselves on their own.
Ministers are saying the problem is interaction with the European Union. That is a mantra that the weakest of Tory Ministers put forward in defence of their failures domestically. Can the Taoiseach think of any area where the gulf between what is promised and what is delivered is so large as in our forestry sector, both in terms of coming up with afforestation permits, licensing the plantation of lands, which we say we need, and allowing owners of dead plantations to cut them down and replant them and to provide some sort of financial support for them in that regard?
Comment on this
I agree there is a gap there and we need to give foresters and potential foresters the confidence they need to plant the trees we want them to plant. We are all aware of the problems that have occurred in recent years. Some €10 million has been provided to owners of ash plantations affected by ash dieback. More recently, a new reconstitution and underplanting scheme, RUS, was introduced in 2020. As of 4 October, the native tree area scheme is open for applications. It will allow farmers to plant up to 1 ha of native woodland without the need for a licence or up to 2 ha if they have a suitable watercourse. Farmers will be paid €2,000 per hectare tax free each year for ten years under the scheme. It is a great scheme. You do not need a licence, you just plant a hectare of native forest and get €2,000 a year for ten years.
I encourage all farmers to take that up and plant a small part of their land.