Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 13 December 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Strategic Vision: Coillte

Mr. Mark Carlin:

We adopt a cascading policy of forest products. We look at the higher value or longer life products so we service construction first and then we look at fencing, pallets and lifestyle products. The top of the tree is used as chips for medium density fibreboard, MDF, which goes into furniture and oriented strand board, OSB, which also goes into construction. The residue is generally used on-site for energy and electricity, if possible, and an element is left in the forest for fire wood or energy wood. I think that is the nature of the question. We try to optimise the other products first and what is left over is used for energy wood.