'Better than nothing' says Leitrim councillor after 'use it or lose it' ultimatum on ash dieback compensation

Speaking on the Reconstitution Ash Dieback Scheme 2023-2027, he said to date, 8,844 hectares, representing over 55% of the total 16,000-hectare national ash plantation, have either been paid out, approved, or are currently being processed with 7,000-plus hectares remaining. 

Leitrim councillor Paddy O'Rourke responded that the scheme was 'Better than nothing but it still falls well short of compensating people for the losses they have incurred. If that's as good as it gets, they better avail of it."

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Under the current scheme, landowners are eligible for €10,000 per hectare: €2,000 for clearing, €3,000 for replanting, and a €5,000 tax-free payment directly to the owner.

Cllr O'Rourke continued: "It falls well well short of what people had hoped but it appears to be the only show in the town in terms of being able to salvage anything from this sad tale which was not the farmers' or landowners' making but was a result of the Department allowing saplings to be introduced from a country that they were contaminated. We never had ash dieback before that."

Addressing concerns regarding the upfront costs of clearing and replanting, Minister Healy-Rae said. "The terms of the scheme are the terms of the scheme," he insisted, suggesting that farmers utilise the common practice of mandating grants to forestry companies to cover initial works.

For a farmer with 10ha of decimated ash, the Minister said the scheme could bring in €100,000.

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Cllr O'Rourke concluded: "I have friends who were caught in this and it's an awful mess but they don't have many other options then to go along with the scheme that the Minister has made available, however stingy that might be. The Minister says that landowners are eligible for €10,000 per hectare and the scheme could bring in €100,000 but you have to share that with the people who will do the cutting and disposal and those who will do the replanting etc. For him to say that someone with 10ha is walking away with €100,000, isn't quite accurate because you are saddled with all these costs."