Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy rightly pointed out, Coillte is a State-owned enterprise, but it has its own board and is entitled to make its own commercial decisions, subject to the law. It is our State forester and it manages 7% of our land. It is right that Coillte has a role in our afforestation plans. There are three elements to that role, the first of which is its pursuit of public-private partnerships. That has been known about since the end of 2020 when Coillte announced the Nature Trust. The Nature Trust will deal with native woodlands, the Irish strategic forestry fund will deal with more commercial-based forestry, and Coillte will engage with public bodies on afforesting public lands.