Mr. Gabriel D'Arcy:

In the first instance I will ask my head of land and property to comment on the proportion of the land that is currently in use and some other uses for our land bank.

Bord na Móna has been in transition for a number of years. Our contract with nature is a vision which plays to the concept of sustainability. Our definition of sustainability is not just economic. As a key semi-State organisation we need to be profitable, to deliver dividends to the State and to manage our affairs in a responsible manner.

We also need to be socially sustainable. We understand our service to the local communities in which we serve, which has been a tradition of Bord na Móna through the decades. Bord na Móna has been very responsive to the employment and sustainable development needs of the local community. The third leg of the stool is environmental sustainability. We fully understand the requirement that some peatlands are better left intact and not open or drained. We have good examples of this in Abbeyleix and elsewhere. We believe it is more sustainable to keep the peatlands in a native protected manner in support of fauna, flora, wildlife and biodiversity. Mr. Gerry Ryan, the head of land and property and company secretary, will speak specifically about land holdings and the percentage in use.