Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The only proposal before the Cabinet was the sale of trees, in other words, the advance sale of the crop. As I indicated, an exercise in due diligence was done on the proposal. I have repeatedly stated that we would drill down into every State company to ascertain what, if any, benefits each proposed sale offered. If a sale did not make economic sense, we would not proceed. On this issue, our due diligence has indicated it is not prudent to proceed with the sale of trees, as proposed. As a result, we will instead have a root and branch re-evaluation of the future of Coillte, specifically in respect of the possibility of merging the company with Bord na Móna to establish a new bio-energy company in the State sector.