Mr. Mark Carlin:

There is quite a bit in that. From a grants point of view, they have announced new premiums and new grants. We have to welcome that.

It is difficult for me to comment on other companies' cost bases. What the Deputy put forward is that we have an advantage in economies of scale. Where we have a disadvantage is in our size as well because other companies can be leaner in this. Other companies can have a smaller cost base than we have. We can have a higher hurdle rate to be able to get into business like this. If one is leaner, it is slightly different. Each company has a different cost base. Certainly, from the size of our estate, there are some economies of scale there. I would recognise the economies of scale but, equally, I would say that other companies can be leaner and more agile.

In the past, when we were doing 15,000 ha or 20,000 ha a year, Coillte was happily coinciding with farmers and forestry companies when it came to afforestation. The great challenge we have is that it is such a small amount of afforestation now. This is what we were concerned about when we came out with the target of 100,000 ha. If one does the maths on that, it is 3,000 ha a year and one could ask if we are doing everything. That is why it is important to contextualise the 100,000 ha target in the target of reaching 18% forest cover in Ireland. That is an important point because what we are talking about here is a contribution. It is additionality. It is in and around 20%, and it is not intended to squeeze forest companies or farmers. We stated previously that it is the farmers who will have to do more of the afforestation because they own the land. It is important that we put the structures, the environment, the regulation and the incentives in place to get farmers back into afforestation.