Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to release commercially sensitive information into the public domain, other than to point out that the experts who examined this issue found that a sale of the harvesting rights of Coillte would create financial difficulties for the residual company. Both Departments determined, therefore, not to proceed with the proposed sale and this position was endorsed by the Cabinet today.

We need to see how Coillte can be restructured in a way that makes it a significant contributor to our economic recovery. In the programme for Government one of the ideas of both parties was to examine the bioenergy sector. It appeared to us, without an exhaustive analysis, that Bord na Móna and Coillte were a good fit. Both have significant land holdings. In terms of Bord na Móna, Deputy Flanagan will be aware it is coming to the end of its prime resource, turf, and it has expanded into a number of other areas. It is clear that all the bioenergy options, whether we are talking about wind, biomass or anything else, need to be teased out, as well as the economic implications, the investment required and the liabilities for each company. We will report to the committee in due course once that exhaustive analysis has been completed.