Additional €79.5 million support package for Farmers impacted by Ash Dieback Disease approved

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Ministers, Charlie McConalogue, T.D., Senator Pippa Hackett and Martin Heydon T.D, welcomed the approval by the Government today of an Action Plan to provide additional supports for farmers with forestry plantations impacted by ash dieback disease.

Speaking after today's Cabinet meeting, Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Senator Pippa Hackett said:

"I am delighted that my Government colleagues have backed this Ash Dieback Action Plan. I was determined to bring forward an action plan that would address both the concerns of farmers and landowners impacted by ash dieback, and the recommendations of the independent review group I commissioned last year. I believe this plan delivers on both of those fronts and I am particularly pleased to be in a position to put in place an additional €79.5 million of funding that will allow us to pay a new Climate Action Performance Payment of €5,000 per hectare to those impacted ash plantation owners who have fully engaged with my Department's reconstitution schemes."

There are a number of elements to the financial support for farmers whose plantations are affected by ash dieback, namely:

• 100% increase in the site clearance grant rate, from €1,000 to €2,000, under the new Forestry Programme compared to the previous reconstitution scheme;

• Enhanced replanting grant rates under the new Forestry Programme, in accordance with the chosen forest type. For example, Forest Type FT12 (conifer) will attract €3,858 per hectare, while planting of Forest Type 1 (native trees) will attract €6,744 per hectare, and agroforestry €8,555 per hectare. These new grant rates represent an approximately 20% increase on those available under the previous programme;

• Those applicants whose sites are still in premium will continue to receive the premium due for the remaining years. They will also receive a once-off top-up payment equivalent to the difference between the existing premium and the associated new Forest Type premium under the new Programme. For example, a farmer with seven years remaining premium who enters into the Reconstitution Scheme to plant FT1 (native forest), will be entitled to receive a lump sum payment of approximately €3,336 per hectare.

• The new financial component of today's Action Plan - a Climate Action Performance Payment (CAPP) is €5,000 per hectare for participants in reconstitution schemes. This payment will be made available to all ash forest owners who have, or will, fully engage with the Department's ash dieback schemes, to clear sites and carry out replanting.

• The overall package being made available to ash plantation owners will amount to in excess of €230 million.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D, said:

"This Action Plan demonstrates the determination of my Department to deal definitively with the ash dieback issue, and to fully address the concerns of farmers and other landowners, as outlined in the Independent Review Group's report. It is a comprehensive response, and one which I hope will also serve to boost interest and participation in Ireland's 2023-2027 Forestry Programme."

Minister of State with special responsibility for research and development, farm safety and new market development, Martin Heydon T.D, also welcomed today's Cabinet approval. He said:

"It is in all our interests that farmers are supported to deal with ash dieback through the clearance of affected plantations, not least from the viewpoint of farm safety. The Action Plan being announced today provides the necessary tools to achieve that objective, and I urge farmers to engage with my Department's Reconstitution Scheme at the earliest opportunity."

Concluding, Minister Hackett confirmed that her Department has now published the Action Plan, and that it will immediately progress the work required to implement the actions. She said:

"My Department will now put the necessary arrangements in place to follow through on the actions as outlined. Indeed, much of this work is already under way. I am also establishing a sub-group of the recently convened Forest Strategy Consultative Committee, which is comprised of all of the relevant stakeholders, to facilitate a co-ordinated response and a swift implementation of the Ash Dieback Action Plan. This taskforce, which addresses another of the key recommendations of the Independent Review Group, will meet in the coming weeks."

ENDS

Notes for Editors

The Action Plan is available on the department's website here .

The Reconstitution Scheme for Ash Dieback, under the new 2023-2027 National Forestry Programme is available : gov - Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (Ash Dieback) (www.gov.ie)

Background

• There were 15,897 hectares of grant aided ash planted between 1990 and 2013.
• The vast majority of ash forests are less than 5 hectares and all are affected by the disease.
• A total of €10 million has been expended to date on schemes to deal with ash dieback, with interventions made on 1,700 hectares.