Ms Bernie Gray:

Coillte is constantly swapping its land bank where it sees there are areas of land which are sub-optimal for afforestation. It is in the process of selling them on an ongoing basis. A net 50,000 ha has been acquired in recent years to increase the amount of afforestation. However, it is not currently economic for Coillte to buy extra land, unless it swaps it for the purposes of afforestation. It does not receive any incentive to do so in the current arrangements. Given the price of land, the business case for buying it without some incentivisation means that it is not an optimal investment for the company. Therefore, the long-term target for increased afforestation will, to some extent, depend on possible changes in agricultural policy that might increase Coillte's eligibility for incentives in that regard.

It will continuously monitor its existing landbank and seek to swap out those suboptimal areas for more optimal land. That is what it has been doing and it has increased its net base by 50,000 ha since 2014.