Figures released by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) reveal that approximately two thirds of applications to the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS) – set up to deal with ash dieback – have yet to be processed.
93 applications made in the period June to December 2020 are still awaiting a decision, while 301 applications submitted between July and December 2021 have yet to be processed.
RUS was established in 2020 as a financial support mechanism for farmers and landowners whose ash plantations have been impacted by ash dieback, a disease cause by an invasive fungal pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.
On the back of a parliamentary question submitted by Sinn Féin councillor, Martin Browne, details of the amount of money paid out under the scheme and numbers of applications received and processed were shared.
According to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, the DAFM has provided more than €7 million to owners of ash plantations impacted by the disease through the Reconstitution Scheme (Ash Dieback), an initial scheme introduced in 2013, and the RUS, introduced in 2020.
RUS Total Applications received 706 Decisions issued 237 Awaiting decision 469
“Applications for RUS are received regularly, and decisions are issued as the assessment of the applications are completed,” he said.
As of June 17, 2022, a total of 706 applications to the RUS were made, with 237 decisions issued and 469 still awaiting decision.
Year received Number awaiting decision June-December 2020 93 January-June 2021 70 July-December 2021 304 January-June 2022 2
A total of 155 applications were decided in 2021, covering an area of 492ha; and 389 applications were received in 2021, covering 1,628ha.
Ash dieback limbo
But the Tipperary Sinn Féin TD was highly critical of the scheme and said that questions must be asked about why just two decisions are outstanding for applications made between January and June this year, while 304 are still pending from the second half of 2021.
“Despite the department’s insistence that the RUS is fit for purpose, the figures released to me show a completely different picture,” he said.
“Since its introduction, 706 applications for the scheme have been made. Yet, to date, only 237 decisions have been issued, leaving 469 applications in limbo.
“But when the figures examined further, the extent to which applicants are being failed becomes even more apparent.
“Of the 469 applications still outstanding, 93 were submitted between June and December of 2020, equating to one-fifth of all outstanding applications.
“Continued delays of this nature mean the continued loss of earnings for operators within the sector. This is intolerable.
“There are also questions around the fact that while 70 applications have been awaiting a decision for a year to a year-and-a-half, and 304 for applications made between a year and six months ago, only two applications made in the last six months are recorded as being outstanding.”
He said he has asked for further details on this, adding:
“I have also been told that changes to the requirement for planning permission where replacing the ash crop with conifer species is proposed for areas under 10ha, will not be introduced until after the summer recess.”
Refocus on RUS
Minister McConalogue said a “key target of the plan is to refocus on the delivery on approvals from the RUS”.
However, he said the Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 – published earlier this year – 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,” he added.
“We have had successful engagement with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in relation to this requirement for planning permission.
“From those discussions we expect that legislation to remove the requirement for planning permission in all cases under 10 hectares will be introduced after the summer recess.”
Deputy Browne said the DAFM has been told time and time again that, in order to make the sector an attractive prospect for future investment, it needs to reform the way applications are dealt with.
“So far, it has failed,” he said.