Mr. Fergus Moore:

I remind Deputy Pringle that the national forest inventory is done every three or four years. We are just starting our next cycle. The results of the inventory are taken with the modelling to estimate the total amount of carbon in the forest estate. We know exactly how much forest carbon is distributed across the entire estate. It depends on the types of soil and species. In general, we report to the EPA, which then reports to the UNFCCC on the total carbon sequestration of the forest estate for Ireland, which includes the Coillte forest estate. It is true that peat soils have a different carbon dynamic from mineral soils. Overall, the entire forest estate is still a net sink for carbon dioxide.