€79.5m support package for ash-dieback approved
The plan will provide for a €5,000/ha payment to farmers. Photo: Getty/RA Kearton
An action plan to provide additional supports for farmers with forestry impacted by ash dieback disease has been approved by the government today.
The plan that includes an additional funding of €79.5m, in addition to the improved reconstitution scheme, has been passed in a meeting that was overseen by Department of Agriculture ministers Charlie McConalogue, Pippa Hackett and Martin Heydon.
The overall package being made available to ash plantation owners will amount to over €230m. The Climate Action Performance Payment (CAPP) – the newly introduced financial component of the action plan – is €5,000/ha for participants in reconstitution schemes.
After the cabinet meeting, Senator Hackett said: “I am particularly pleased to be in a position to put in place an additional €79.5m of funding that will allow us to pay a CAPP of €5,000/ha to those impacted ash plantation owners who have fully engaged with my Department’s reconstitution schemes.”
This payment will be made available to all ash forest owners who have or will engage with the Department’s ash dieback schemes which include clearing out sites and carrying out replanting.
Support for farmers who have affected plantations will also include a few other elements, including, a 100pc increase in the site clearance grant rate. Under the new Forestry Programme, the rate has increased from €1,000 to €2,000.
The plan also includes enhanced replanting grant rates in accordance with the chosen forest type. For example, planting coniferous trees will attract €3,858/ha, while native trees will attract €6,744/ha. The new grant rates offer an approximate 20pc increase from 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.
Charlie McConalogue said: “This Action Plan demonstrates the determination of my Department 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.”
