A Co Cavan man is calling for government to offer supports to forestry owners impacted by Storm Eowyn. Derek McCabe from Co Cavan is chairman of Irish Forest Owners Association. He is calling for supports to be allocated to those impacted by Storm Eowyn ahead of the Department of Agriculture updating the Seanad tomorrow.
Speaking on this morning's Joe Finnegan Show, Derek said that any positive suggestions put forward by the association to government officials has "fallen on deaf years." He believes forest owners like himself were unfairly blamed over the extent of damage caused by storm Eowyn, he told Northern Sound that while forestry owners are responsible for their forests, it is ESB who is responsible for the lines and have the power to go onto any property to cut down or trim trees to maintain their lines.
He added that forestry owners like himself "can't knock a tree beside a powerline" as it would break every health and safety rule in the book. The Co Cavan says the government has fallen into the remit of "talking around the subject" as opposed to dealing with it head on:
