Mr. Damian McDonald:

Obviously this is very complex. Even though it affects a relatively small number of people it would appear there are a lot of different issues with each of the contracts. The approach we are trying to look at is to set down a frequently asked questions type document that Coillte would work up, in consultation with the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA. This would at least get it out there, for those farmers we may not have yet come across it, and it would deal with how various aspects are calculated and so on. We would probably need a system to mop up those to get a bit more detail and maybe some form of appeal for people. If they are unhappy with the situation they should have access to somebody so they can sit down and work it out. A lot of these contacts have been in place for a long time and there is a lot of learning from all this. The key issue now is to try and get to these 630 people to see if we can get a resolution for them to move on.

As other speakers have already outlined, as the contracts have been going on for longer the older the person is the bigger the issues appear to be. It is complex because some people have passed away, which presents probate issues and so on. An element of any solution is the need to go through the contracts one by one. We had a meeting with Coillte two weeks ago and I certainly got the impression that Coillte was very anxious to try to work with the IFA to resolve the situation. We must try to get to the 630 people, sit down with them and work it out to come to a fair resolution for it.