The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is planning to host a national conference focused on ash dieback in early 2023.
IFA Farm Forestry Committee chair, Jason Fleming, told Agriland that he has been surprised at the number of farmers who have been impacted by the disease across the country.
He is hoping that the conference due to take place in February will include representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Teagasc and other industry stakeholders.
Ash dieback
Minister of State at DAFM with responsibility for forestry, Pippa Hackett, has committed to review the current Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme – Ash Dieback (RUS) in 2023.
Fleming said that this was a positive development but added that not enough was being done by the government to help farmers impacted by the disease.
“We can’t move forward with a new forestry programme without dealing with the problems of the past,” he said.
The IFA is calling for forestry owners who are impacted by ash dieback to be given a 20-year forestry premium when they have been approved to replant their land.
Meanwhile, Fleming welcomed a decision by the minister to grant a planning exemption allowing forestry owners to replace diseased ash trees with conifer species.
The exemption applies to applications relating to less than 10ha that replace broadleaf high forest, such as diseased ash forests, with conifer species like Sitka Spruce.
“This legislative change is positive and will simplify the application process.”
He said that the requirement to apply for planning permission under RUS was delaying the application process and adding unnecessary bureaucracy to managing the disease.
Farmers whose applications were being processed under the RUS scheme, and have yet to be decided upon, will benefit from the legislative change.
All applications are required to be screened by DAFM for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA).
“I hope this legislative change as well as the Minister’s commitment to review the RUS scheme in early 2023 signal a new willingness to better support farmers affected by this devastating disease,” Fleming said.