Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 November 2015
133. Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the Ash tree disease; the total number of Ash trees destroyed; the action he is taking to eliminate the disease; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42025/15]
View answerThe first confirmed finding of Ash dieback in Ireland was at a forestry plantation site in County Leitrim in October 2012. Surveys led to further findings of the disease. The first step was the introduction of national legislative measures in November 2012 under the Destructive Insects and Pest Acts 1958 and 1991 which listed the disease as a pest and which also regulated the import of ash seed, plants and wood. In December 2012 ash was delisted from the list of tree species approved under the afforestation grant schemes and thereafter the Department also delisted ash for the trees species approved under the agri-environment options scheme (AEOS and now GLAS). The National Roads Authority agreed in 2013 to suspend the use of Ash in any roadside plantings and since then it uses alternative species.
Also in December 2012 the Department introduced a new scheme to restore forests affected by ash dieback, by supporting the removal and destruction of trees and leaf litter affected by the disease and the replanting of the forest with an alternative species. The number of individual ash trees destroyed as part of this exercise is not recorded, however to date 713 hectares of ash has been removed under the scheme. In addition, over the same period, the Department has overseen the removal of several thousand ash plants and trees in nurseries and from along roadways.
An “All Ireland Chalara Control Strategy” was launched by Minister of State Tom Hayes and Minister Michelle O’Neill on 9th July 2013. This strategy, developed jointly between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Northern Ireland (DARD) establishes an all island framework for the policy of identification, control and eradication of the causal agents of ash dieback.
Surveys have been conducted by the Department year on year since the first occurrence of the disease in Ireland was confirmed. Similar surveys are undertaken by authorities in Northern Ireland. The systematic and targeted plant health surveys in relation to the disease undertaken by the Department over this summer (2015) and the associated laboratory tests were completed in October. The results were collated earlier in November and show there has been a significant increase in confirmed findings in forest plantations, an increase in confirmed findings in hedgerows and roadside plantings, as well as an expansion in its known geographic distribution.
There are now confirmed findings of the disease in some 110 forest plantations distributed over 18 counties, findings of the disease have been made in native hedgerows in 13 counties, and findings of the disease have been made in roadside plantings in 11 counties.
Further to the results of the summer surveys north and south, within the framework of the All-Ireland Chalara Control Strategy of July 2013, a comprehensive review is now being undertaken by the Department and DARD of policy options in relation to the disease.
