Mr. Gerry Britchfield:

There was a related question about whether we are dormant in terms of land acquisitions. We are with regard to new land; we are not acquiring new land. Regarding confidence that the faith that has been placed in us will be repaid, we have a very good strategy and excellent people working in the business who understand it very well and are extremely committed to it. The confidence that has been put in us will be repaid over the next number of years.

The Deputy also asked about damage to local roads from harvesting and consultation with local authorities. Local authorities over the years have become stricter in terms of designated access routes for harvesting. We are in constant consultation with local authorities about what access route we can use to access clear-fell sites. They lay down strict guidelines on what they expect, and we comply with those. We do our utmost to ensure we do not damage local roads because we appreciate that it is very disruptive for people living in those areas. Ultimately, we have to get the timber out, we use the most modern methods possible to do that and we have regard to ensuring we minimise any damage.

The Deputy asked about Government guidelines for CEOs. I am the acting CEO. Up to this I was the managing director of the panels business. When the previous CEO left, eight months ago, the chairman asked me to take up this role. I have done that under the same terms and conditions I was on before that with no improvement and they are consistent with the new Government guidelines for the new CEO of Coillte.

Deputy Hayden asked about the cost-benefit analysis. We did a big exercise on this. As the Deputy may be aware, over the last number of years we have been examining reinvesting in our SmartPly facility in Waterford, and we recently went to the Government seeking approval to do that. We are hopeful that we will get approval to do that. The SmartPly business has a great future. In considering that investment, our board demanded that we examine all the alternatives, such as panels and renewables, to see which would provide the best return for our wood fibre. We did that, and it is clear that there is a better return for the State from using our wood fibre to manufacture the SmartPly product and export it.

That business has a great future. Part of that comparison relates back to the fact that the supports for combined heat and power, CHP, in Ireland are not particularly attractive. CHP bioenergy cannot match the sort of returns that panels are delivering. The panel sector is deeply rooted here. We have great expertise in this country and it employes more than 300 people directly in the south east and approximately 100 in Carrick-on-Shannon, so it is a very important business.

The Deputy asked us about climate change strategy and land use. We are mindful of the fact that the carbon sequestration benefits of forestry were built into the Government's plan for meeting its Kyoto targets, which took us to 2012. As part of our business we ensure that we replant areas that we clear-fell. We are mindful of the fact that carbon sequestration is a key benefit of forests and ensure that we replant forests to avoid diminishing that carbon sequestration benefit. We seek, through Coillte's forest business, to improve the yield class of what we replant if we can. The yield class improvement generally gives a better carbon sequestration return.

Deputy McNamara asked about the areas that are largely unproductive and that we are replanting if and when we clear-fell them. There is a case for looking at areas that are particularly poor and rather than reforesting those sites with a full stocking level of 2,500 plants per hectare, which is what we tend to do, going for a less intensive stocking level because the economics are very poor. Many of those areas would not be grant-aided by the forest service if they were bare land today because their yield class would be far lower than what it would regard as a commercial prospect. We must examine this, but it is a policy issue for the forest service. Its policy is to encourage people to replant and restock at full stocking levels.