The first confirmed finding of Ash Dieback in Ireland was made on 12th October 2012 at a forestry plantation site in County Leitrim which had been planted in 2009 with trees imported from continental Europe. Following this finding the Department initiated a programme of targeted and systematic surveys for the disease. As the periods of these surveys initially crossed calendar years the results up until December 2015 were not collated on an annualised basis but rather in terms of the increase in confirmed findings from one survey period to another. These figures can be obtained, if the Deputy so wishes, however is not possible to do so in the time available. I would advise the Deputy to consult the Department’s website where there is a dedicated section on Ash Dieback and where the findings from each of the surveys undertaken is outlined in detail.
The data generated by the initial programme of targeted and systematic surveys for the disease was collated primarily on the basis of the location type rather than the number of confirmed findings by county year on year. These figures too can be obtained, if the Deputy so wishes, however it is not possible to do so in the time available. A national distribution map of all confirmed findings up to the 30th June this year is accessible on the dedicated section of the Department’s website.
In November 2012, legislation was put in place to restrict the movement of ash seeds, plants, or wood into or within the country with a view to preventing the establishment of the disease on the island. In March 2013 the Department introduced a Reconstitution Scheme (Chalara Ash Dieback) to restore forests planted under the afforestation scheme which had suffered from or which were associated with plants affected by disease. To date the Department has supported the uprooting and deep burial of an estimated 2 million plus ash trees. In addition to these measures the removal and destruction of several thousand ash trees has been undertaken in roadside/motorway landscaping plantings, farm landscaping/agri-environment scheme plantings, and commercial nurseries/garden centres.
In December 2012 the Department delisted ash as a tree species approved under the afforestation grant schemes and shortly thereafter delisted ash from the trees species approved under the agri-environment options scheme (AEOS, now GLAS). The National Roads Authority also agreed in 2013 to suspend the use of ash in any roadside/motorway plantings and since then it uses alternative species. Coillte also made a policy decision not to replant with ash.
An all-Ireland approach to dealing with Chalara has been maintained under the North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC) with ongoing close co-operation in all areas. This included the publication jointly by the then Minister of State with responsibility for forestry Mr. Tom Hayes TD and the then Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ms. Michelle O’Neill MLA, in July 2013 of an All-Ireland Chalara Control Strategy.
At this point in time and pending the outcome of national and international research projects to identify ash trees that show strong tolerance to the disease, the Department is not actively supporting the planting of ash trees. Farmers and other landowners should also be aware that there are regulations in place restricting the movement of ash seeds, plants, or ash wood into or within the country with a view to preventing the spread of the disease. This legislation is in the form of Order (S.I. No. 479 of 2015) made under the Destructive Insects and Pest Acts 1958 and 1991. Similar legislation is in also place in Northern Ireland.
As noted above the Department operates a Reconstitution Scheme (Chalara Ash Dieback) to restore forests planted under the afforestation scheme which had suffered from or which were associated with plants affected by disease. The scheme provides financial support in the form of grant aid based on costs incurred up to a maximum of €1,500 per hectare for site clearance, up to a maximum of €2,500 per hectare for replanting with conifer and up to a maximum of €3,800 per hectare for replanting with broadleaves, and up to a maximum of €800 and €1,200 per hectare respectively for maintenance of these replanted areas. The Department also operates a Woodland Improvement Scheme to provide financial support in the form of grant aid at a rate of €750 per hectare aimed at encouraging forest owners who have not yet done so to thin their forests with a view to increasing the growth of the better trees in the plantation. Both schemes are open to forest owners who planted under one of the grant aided afforestation schemes since 1980.
In addition to the scheme based measures which have resulted in the uprooting of over 2 million trees and replanting of over 755 hectares of forest plantations affected by the disease, the removal and destruction of several thousand ash trees has been undertaken in roadside/motorway landscaping plantings, farm landscaping/agri-environment scheme plantings, and commercial nurseries/garden centres. Advice continues to be provided by the Department’s Inspectors to foresters in the public and private sectors on the biology of the disease and recognition of symptoms as well as on the procedures around the clearance of affected forest plantations and infected nursery stock. Inspectors also regularly provide briefings for or attend information meetings for landowners and other relevant stakeholders and representative groups such as the IFA, the GAA, and the Ash Society.
To assist with the Department’s efforts forest owners, forest nursery staff, and members of the public are asked to be vigilant for the disease and report (with photographs, if possible) any sites where there are concerns about unusual ill health in ash. To assist with this reporting an All Ireland smartphone ‘App’, called TreeCheck, is available which allows members of the public to report suspected cases of disease or insect attack of any tree species. Using a GPS-enabled smartphone the location of the suspect tree may also be recorded by the app to allow a follow-up inspection by Inspectors in the relevant jurisdiction if required. It is hoped that this App will help not only with regard to the early detection of new occurrences of Ash Dieback disease, but also other possible pest and disease outbreaks.
Initially the findings were in imported ash trees. Later we found the disease in native hedgerows beside infected imported ash trees. We are now finding the disease in native hedgerows where there is no obvious introduced source of infection nearby. In addition over half the recent findings in forest plantations are in ash trees of native Irish origin. There was a large increase in ash dieback findings in 2016. When these developments are coupled with the evidence from Great Britain, where the disease has spread quickly and widely in the natural environment over the same time period, it all paints an unwelcome and unfavourable picture for us in terms of dealing with the spread of this airborne fungal disease.
The Department is actively supporting a number of research projects into the control and management of the disease, in particular projects with a key long-term focus of developing an ash tree breeding programme to identify trees that show strong tolerance and or resistance to the disease and the genetic basis for tolerance. It is through such programmes that a long term strategy for ash can be identified and supported. More detail of the research actions the Department has participated in and/or is supporting financially either wholly or in part can be accessed on the dedicated section of the Department’s website.
The Department is aware of the importance of the ash to the hurley making business. Analysis undertaken by the Department indicates the basic resource to supply ash for hurley production is still secure for the foreseeable future as there are around 19,000 ha of existing ash plantations in the country. Hurley production supports approximately 400 jobs in rural Ireland through the production of 400,000 hurleys annually. This makes ash hurley production an important and viable industry in creating employment in rural Ireland. As the supply of ash for hurley production both from local sources and from abroad is secure the future of ash hurleys will ultimately depend on the individual choice of those playing the game of hurling.
The Department will continue to support and invest in research and technologies to breed ash for resistance to the disease so as to seek to ensure the long term availability of ash for hurley production. The aim is to develop Irish ash trees with a strong tolerance to the Ash Dieback disease and to get back to planting ash.
