€55 million approved for damaged forests
The announcement that a sum of €55-million is to be made available under a new Reconstitutions Scheme for owners of private forestry plantations that were ravaged by the two storms of this year is a most welcome one, the Chairman of the IFA Farm Forestry Committee, Padraig Stapleton, stated.
The scheme provides that “those with the 13,000 hectares of private forestry affected by both storms will be able to apply to the scheme in early 2026 once a valid felling licence is in place. All conditions attached to the felling licence will continue to apply. The scheme will provide much-needed financial support to landowners to restore their damaged forests,” he said.
The grants will be issued in two instalments, with 75% being provided in grant in the year of replantation and the remainder being spread out over the following four years.
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ICSA: Cease livestock imports to stop advance of Bluetongue disease
President of the ICSA Sean McNamara has expressed the view that it is critically necessary that the meat processing enterprises immediately stop the practice of importing livestock from Northern Ireland to prevent the wider spread of the disease, Bluetongue.
The farming representative organisation still “has serious concerns about the continued movement of animals across the border, particularly now that positive Bluetongue cases have been confirmed in the North and further cases are under investigation,” he said.
This disease is spread by midges, “so, if a processor brings in sheep from the North that are carrying the virus, all it takes is for one midge around Athleague, Camolin, Navan, or wherever a factory is located, to land on an infected sheep. That midge then becomes infected too, and once that happens, it can spread the virus to farms in the surrounding area. That is how quickly this disease can move.”
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