Mr. Pat Collins:

Yes. That is what happened. There was a targeting of two regions: the west, out of the Mountbellew office, and Kilkenny, out of the Kilkenny office. They were classified as having highly productive ground for forestry production.

Deputy Willie Penrose said he was not aware of anyone in the midlands with a Coillte contract. I am sure there are people in the midlands with Coillte contracts. Why have they not come out? Many are ashamed to say they are engaged in a partnership with Coillte because they believe they have been let down. They are ashamed to say they signed up to something and that they have given away their land for 40 years. That is how they feel. They were vulnerable persons who signed up to something without being aware of the effects. As my colleague has pointed out, there was no legal expertise available in the early 1990s. Coillte had the expertise.

The private grower was not aware of the value that timber would be. The core issue now is how we can get a resolution to this. This is why people have not come forward. People are still getting their State premium. It will probably come to a head in three or four years' time when the majority of these contracts finish in the State premium from the forest service and then enter into the annuity payments. This is where the big problem will arise. I do not know how we are going to be able to help these people. This is a big mess and it needs serious attention. Some €300 million is tied up in forestry partnerships in rural Ireland. If we consider the 12,000 ha, at a conservative figure of €25,000 per ha, it comes to approximately €300 million. That is a lot of money, all of which is leaving rural Ireland. The idea of forestry for rural Ireland was to regenerate and put money back in to the rural economy. People now feel that this has not happened.