Mr. Francis Cassidy:

Yes. I can talk about west Cavan in particular and my colleagues might talk about Leitrim and other areas. In west Cavan, the total area, based on 2007 figures, is 30,000 ha. Coillte owns almost 4,000 ha. The figure that is privately owned is 1,821 ha, meaning approximately 20% of the land area in west Cavan is under afforestation.

In answer to the Chairman's question about private land, approximately 500 ha of a total of 30,000 ha are owned by local interests. The average plantation owned by a farmer in the area would be 5 ha or 6 ha. They are very small.