Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Pippa Hackett has announced the establishment of an independent review of her Department’s ash dieback support scheme.

The group will review the existing and previous supports available to landowners with ash plantations funded under the national forestry programme which are now infected with Chalara and will make recommendations on these supports to the Minister within three months.

The group will comprise three members of the project board overseeing the implementation of project woodland.

These include Jo O’Hara, former CEO of the Scottish Forestry Commission, Jerry Grant, former managing director of Irish Water and Matt Crowe, former director of the EPA.

Minister Hackett stressed how ash dieback is now endemic in our countryside.

To date her Department has provided over €9m in support to landowners with infected plantations by removing and replanting their sites with alternative species. Also doubling the rates for this recently.

"As we approach 10 years of these supports, I have listened to the concerns of landowners and I have tasked an independent group to review existing Department supports," she said.

The Minister said that so far her Department received applications for assistance under these schemes for almost 6,500ha of grant aided ash to date.

It’s important, she said, with the upcoming introduction of a new forestry programme that farmers continue to have confidence in the forestry schemes and this review will be very timely.

"Consultation with stakeholders will be an essential part of the review and the group will be in direct contact with stakeholders to ensure that their voice is heard. I expect to receive the group‘s final report by 15 September after which I will fully consider its recommendations," Minister Hackett said.