Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 May 2023
559. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated total volume of ash in plantations, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25698/23]
View answerMy Department undertakes the National Forest Inventory (NFI), the purpose of which is to record and assess the extent and nature of Ireland’s forests, in a timely, accurate and reproducible manner. Reliable, current and consistent information is required to inform domestic forest policy, to support forest research and fulfil national and international reporting commitments.
The fourth NFI cycle was completed during 2022. The national forest estate is still expanding and has now reached 11.6% of the total land area or 808,848 hectares. Broadleaf tree species account for nearly one-third (30.6%) of the stocked forest area while conifer species are the dominant species present (69.4%).
The total growing stock volume of Irish forests is over 142 million cubic metres, of which 4.4 million cubic metres is ash. The distribution of this ash volume is detailed in the table below.
|
County |
Volume (cubic metres) |
|
Carlow |
96,562 |
|
Cavan |
140,791 |
|
Clare |
519,863 |
|
Cork |
380,855 |
|
Donegal |
82,445 |
|
Dublin |
82,400 |
|
Galway |
175,008 |
|
Kerry |
145,906 |
|
Kildare |
310,710 |
|
Kilkenny |
82,488 |
|
Laois |
363,122 |
|
Leitrim |
32,659 |
|
Limerick |
175,687 |
|
Longford |
68,510 |
|
Louth |
67,829 |
|
Mayo |
88,779 |
|
Meath |
357,497 |
|
Monaghan |
28,880 |
|
Offaly |
234,669 |
|
Roscommon |
153,942 |
|
Sligo |
110,063 |
|
Tipperary |
369,113 |
|
Waterford |
223,972 |
|
Westmeath |
26,950 |
|
Wexford |
30,149 |
|
Wicklow |
51,515 |
|
Total |
4,400,364 |
The Deputy may be aware that my Department has spent €9.2 million on schemes to remove and replace ash impacted by ash dieback. All these schemes include a grant for site clearance as well as replanting and cover the costs associated with these operations.
In March, Minister of State, Senator Pippa Hackett launched an Interim Reconstitution Scheme for Ash Dieback via general de minimis which contains a doubling of site clearance rates, increased grant rates and an improved premium regime.
A similar scheme for the reconstitution of ash dieback will be launched as part of the new forestry programme. State Aid Guidelines provide for aid for the restoration of damage to forests caused by a variety of events including damage from disease and pests. State Aid rules are explicit that this aid is for restoration and does not facilitate compensation for loss including income.
My Department continues to review the operation of the ash dieback scheme, having regard to its effectiveness, the status of the plantations, state aid regulations and other issues having regard to the age and stage of the rotation of the almost 16,000 hectares of ash that were grant aided between 1990 and 2013.
