Mr. Colm Hayes:

There is an issue but it should not be turned into a Coillte versus private debate because whatever Coillte gets services the private sector so it is all output. Every licence application that comes in whether it is from Coillte or a private applicant is very much treated in the same way in terms of the environmental assessment and public consultation. Rightly or wrongly, given the imminent threat to jobs in the entire forestry sector last summer, we prioritised volume.

We presented that to the sector. My interpretation was that it was on board with that and saw it as something that should be in place as a short-term solution. We do not view it as anything more than a short-term solution either, but I believe it was needed. When we are trying to knock a mountain, we try to chip off as many big blocks as we can.

There is one figure that surprises people. Of the 5 million cu. m of timber issued last year under felling licences, some 2.7 million cu. m was for Coillte and 2.3 million cu. m was private. It is a 52% to 48% breakdown, not the divide that people assume. That has continued into January and that is the way we want to continue. We certainly do not want to leave anyone behind. That was a strategy at a point in time but it is certainly not a long-term strategy - that is for sure.