Department braced for hard-hitting ash dieback review

A damning assessment of the Department of Agriculture’s response to ash dieback is expected to be delivered this week.

An independent review of the Department’s support package for the 6,000 growers affected by ash dieback is highly critical of the State’s response to the disease, which has devastated most of the country’s 24,000ha of ash plantations.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the hard-hitting review, which is to be published on Friday, questions why the Department failed to heed warnings regarding the threat posed by importing saplings which were potentially infected with ash dieback.

In addition, the review questions the effectiveness of the Department’s Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS) which was put in place for affected forestry owners impacted by ash dieback.