Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Is Coillte at the stage when it is coming to cut much of the land that was planted? It is now the goose that laid the golden egg. That means profit, if we are to believe figures coming out of forestry, of €8,000 to €10,000 per acre. Is that not better than all the grants in the world? Grants, at best, would amount to 15 years multiplied by €200 an acre, which is approximately €3,000. If Coillte is now replanting what it has cut, it does not have to mound an area again, so the costs associated with it are not nearly as much. It is only a matter of gathering roots or windrows. How is it that Coillte does not have to put money back in to increase its portfolio rather than standing still?