Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 222: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the legal status of the lands held by Coillte. [47536/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Coillte Teoranta was established as a private company under the Forestry Act, 1988 and came into operation on 1 January 1989. Section 39(1) of the Forestry Act 1988 provides that "On the vesting day all land (other than land designated by the Minister) which, immediately before that day, was vested in the Minister and was used or had been acquired for the purposes of functions assigned by this Act to the company and all rights, powers and privileges relating to or connected with such land shall, without any conveyance or assignment, but subject to subsection (2), stand vested in the company for all the estate or interest for which immediately before the vesting day it was vested in the Minister but subject to all trusts and equities affecting the lands subsisting and capable of being performed." This, in effect, means that the lands previously owned by the relevant Minister are now vested in Coillte.