Mr. John Browne TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food with special responsibility for forestry, today stressed the importance of plant health and the protection of the forest estate from pests, diseases and other threats.  He stressed that this is vital in order to sustain the growth in the forestry sector.
Ireland has a high standard of plant health and the Department of Agriculture and Food operates controls under both national and EU legislation to maintain and where possible enhance this status.

Minister of State Browne commented “Ireland currently enjoys a most favourable forest pest and disease-free status.  The Forest Service Inspectorate carries out ongoing disease and insect surveys of our forests to continually monitor the health status of our forests so that problems can be quickly identified and any action which may be required to protect our forests can be taken”.
An important element of this work is to prevent the entry of harmful forest pests and diseases into Ireland and the Minister cited the recent interception of a quarantine spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus, at an Irish port as an example of this vigilance, as well as the identification of Phytophthora ramorum on rhododendron and species in parts of the country, following a national plant-health survey.
Phytophthora ramorum is a fungus-like organism, which has the potential to infect commercial broadleaf tree species. However, there have been no findings of the disease on any tree species in Ireland.  The Minister of State advised that all necessary steps were being taken to control and prevent the spread of the disease and to safeguard Ireland’s current high plant-health status.
The Minister said “Many people may be unaware of the ongoing work which the Department, in conjunction with other agencies, undertakes to protect our forests. The benefits of this accrue not just to the Irish timber industry and timber growers but arise in areas such as environmental protection and enhancement, the maintenance of biodiversity and the provision of a marvellous recreational resource for our people. Much of this work is unseen, but it is nonetheless hugely valuable”.