Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will accept the good wishes of Deputy Boyd Barrett on the Government decision. He is correct that we are a listening Government. The criteria we set down for the sale of any asset is simple: it must make economic sense. Bluntly, this is not anything ideological. If the sale of these harvesting rights made economic sense I would be recommending a sale to the Government. However, it does not make economic sense and that is the reason we are not proceeding with it. There is a notion that we do not sell trees. Coillte is the national forestry company and it is growing trees for sale. We would have no sawmills or timber industry if Coillte did not sell trees. Of course the trees are for sale-----