Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I will come back to the Gresham House deal because it is a project of €2 billion, as Ms Gray said. I and the public do not believe the Minister or someone high up in the Department did not know before December. Who made the initial contact? Did Coillte approach Gresham House or vice versa? Did Gresham House get in touch with the Department? What was the timeline involved?

I ask because we have had numerous meetings here and trust in the sector keeps coming up. The sector is trying to trust Coillte and the Department but there is an awful lot of mistrust there and there will be until we start getting straight answers. The witnesses mentioned April and said they flew it around different Departments but, given it is a project of €2 billion, someone high up in the Department must have been in contact with Coillte at some stage to advise it to continue in its course or tell it to pull back.Who made the initial contact and what timeline was involved?