The first meeting of the ash dieback taskforce took place on Tuesday 28 May.

The taskforce is a Department-chaired group, comprised of the relevant stakeholders, including representatives of ash plantation owners, whose purpose is to facilitate a co-ordinated response and a swift implementation of the ash dieback action plan.

Opening the meeting Minister of State for land use and biodiversity in the Department of Agriculture Senator Pippa Hackett said: “When bringing the ash dieback action plan to cabinet last month, together with an additional €79.5m in funding for ash plantation owners, I stated my strong commitment to ensuring that my Department acts swiftly to implement all of the recommendations of the independent review that I commissioned into previous handling of the outbreak of ash dieback."

Stakeholder participation and representation of ash plantation owners, she said, will be central to her Department’s implementation of the action plan.

The taskforce, she added, will be the forum through which her Department will engage in an open and detailed manner with representatives of landowners and of the wider forestry sector.

Supports

The overall support for ash plantation owners amounts to potentially €237m, including the new €79.5m climate action performance payment, which will be paid at a rate of €5,000/ha.

This new payment is available to all ash forest owners, who, under a Department ash dieback reconstitution scheme, clear their sites and carry out replanting.