Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know that Mr. Anhold is here representing Ms Corcoran and Mr. King. Have many more people contacted him about the issue? When you have a problem, especially with a State body, and word gets out about it, other people seem to gravitate towards you, knowing that there is strength in numbers. Does Mr. Anhold know of many more people, who have contracts with Coillte or similar partnerships or arrangements, who have issues?

Finally, was Mr. Anhold involved from the start? Did a legal professional look over the contracts before they were actually signed? Were they verified as being legally sound? Going back to the Chair's points, is the arrangement for the removal of thinnings specifically mentioned in the contract? Who is supposed to monitor that? It sounds to me like it is a contract with the devil, whereby the farmers are promised that they are getting 80% of the profits from thinnings, but Coillte will decide what the 80% relates to, basically. I agree with the Cathaoirleach. Hindsight is a great thing and given the problems that the witnesses have, it is easier to say that, but I if I was signing that contract I would insist on a third party, a monitor or somebody to verify the contract was legally sound. He who pays the piper calls the tune. If you let the man who is paying the piper call the tune, it is going to be his tune, not yours.