Independent TD for Laois-Offaly, Carol Nolan has called for an “urgent review” of the recently announced €79.5 million support package for farmers whose forests have been impacted by ash dieback.
A payment of €5,000/ha will be available to all ash forest owners who have, or will, “fully engage” with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s (DAFM) ash dieback schemes to clear sites and carry out replanting.
This payment will be paid in three installments. Ash forest owners who have cleared and replanted will receive an upfront payment of €2,500. Two annual payments of €1,250 each will then follow at the second and third grant stage after four years, according to the director of forestry at the DAFM, Barry Delany.
Deputy Nolan raised the matter in the Dáil with Taoiseach Simon Harris following her “engagement” with the Limerick and Tipperary Woodland Owners (LTWO) which, she said, “identified a number of flaws in the scheme”.
Ash dieback
“I know from my engagement with the LTWO that particular concerns exist around the clearance grants that are capped at €2,000/ha, while quotes for clearance are running at €6,500/ha. This means farmers will have to borrow money to clear the land,” she said.
Despite having welcomed the initial announcement of the scheme which she believes “recognised that landowners deserved to be compensated for losses outside their control”, the independent TD said:
“Unfortunately, we now see that the devil really was in the detail and, as such, I am calling for an urgent review and a significant increase in the levels of compensation that are being proposed.”
Deputy Nolan further said that the payment of €5,000/ha “does not compare with the typical losses of €40,000/ha, according to independent forestry valuation”.
“What is urgently needed here is a review of this scheme and a timeline for compensation to be rightfully and urgently paid to the affected landowners,” Deputy Nolan told the Dáil yesterday (Wednesday, May 8).
Taoiseach
Responding to Deputy Nolan, the Taoiseach said that Minister of State at the DAFM with responsibility for land use and biodiversity, Pippa Hackett “has worked really hard on this for a sustained period of time”.
“I am really pleased we have got to the point of having a scheme to provide financial assistance. It has been a very stressful time for so many farmers and foresters. I know the deputy welcomes the scheme.
“If the deputy wants to write to me about the concerns arising in Limerick and Tipperary, I will ask the Minister of State [Pippa Hackett] to engage on it, the Taoiseach said.