Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 December 2020
201. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has a programme in place to protect and restore the elm species; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40690/20]
View answerDutch elm disease is a forest disease caused by a fungus (Ophiostoma spp.) that affects elms in Europe and North America. Even though a fungus causes the disease, it spreads due to the action of bark beetles, which carry fungal spores allowing the fungus to infect new trees.
Wych elm (Ulmus glabra ) is the only native elm species in Ireland and is highly susceptible to Dutch elm disease. Once a very abundant tree in the Irish landscape, it is uncommon to find living mature elm trees nowadays. Even though there is natural resistance to the disease within elm populations, it is extremely rare. Most living elms are thought to have been able to “avoid” the insect rather than being resistant to the disease and those that have survived occur mainly in semi-natural woodland and in hedges in a range of localities around the island. A significant percentage of the mature elm trees in Ireland occur in urban areas where pollution, traffic, buildings and management of parks and gardens protect elm trees from getting in contact with the bark beetles that carry Dutch elm disease.
Teagasc collects samples of mature elm trees growing in Ireland with a view to propagating them vegetatively as a first step to creating a collection of candidate elm genotypes for screening for resistance to Dutch elm disease. The candidate elms must be older than 40 years or have a diameter larger than 45 cm. In addition, neighbouring elms must show recent signs of the disease. These requirements are used to confirm that the trees are old enough to get infected and that the disease is active in the area. Teagasc continues to ask the public to notify them when an elm tree fulfilling these requirements is identified. Elm is not on the Department’s list of accepted tree species for the afforestation scheme but the Department is supportive of actions that can lead to the conservation of elm under its Native Woodland Conservation scheme.
