Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 October 2022
411. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 588 of 20 September 2022, if his Department will clear all ash dieback reconstitution and underplanting scheme files by year end to aid stricken forest owners (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49365/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince the first finding of ash dieback disease in Ireland, the Department has provided support totalling over €7 million to owners of ash plantations impacted by disease through the Reconstitution Scheme (Ash Dieback) introduced in 2013 and, more recently, the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS – Ash dieback) introduced in July 2020.
Since the commencement of the Rus Scheme, and up to the 4th October this year, a total of 825 applications have been received. Of this total, 305 have been approved and 520 remain on hand, of which 207 are currently referred to Ecology. While we committed to increasing output on RUS this year, many applications are screened in for Appropriate Assessment and are referred to ecology, and any of these applications that propose replacing the ash crop with conifer species currently require planning permission.
The introduction of the legislation to remove the requirement for planning permission for RUS projects of less than 10ha in size is a matter for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I understand that his Department completed the first stage in the Strategic Environment Assessment screening process and notified the prescribed statutory consultees on 22nd September 2022. Those statutory consultees have 4 weeks to respond to the notice. An Appropriate Assessment screening process is also currently being undertaken in parallel by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s Ecological Assessment Unit. I am hopeful that the legislation can be introduced once these processes have been finalised.
We are working our way through cases which are not affected by the requirement for planning permission. Any of these not awaiting further information will be processed, but there are a number of cases in respect of which harvest and reforestation plans are awaited from the applicant.
