Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

1. In page 3, before section 2, to insert the following new section:

"2.—Section 24(2) of the Forestry Act 1988 is amended:

(a) by the insertion of the words "but shall not exceed €100,000,000, without receiving the express approval of Dail Eireann" after "the consent of the Minister for Finance", and

(b) by the insertion of a new paragraph in subsection (2) as follows:

"(a) Monies borrowed temporarily at any point in the accounting year under this subsection shall be noted in the annual report of the company for that accounting year.".".

Section 24 of the Forestry Act 1988 deals with Coillte's borrowing entitlements. Section 24(2) states:

The company may borrow money (including money in a currency other than the currency of the State) temporarily but the aggregate at any one time of such borrowings shall not exceed such amount as has been approved by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

My amendment provides that any borrowings of Coillte's could not exceed 25% of its total borrowings capacity of €400 million without having the express approval of Dáil Éireann. If Coillte wanted to borrow in excess of €100 million, it could only do so with the express approval of the House through the Minister.

We are being asked to approve on the hoof a capacity for a semi-State company to borrow up to €400 million, four times its current permitted amount, without any satisfactory debate. It is important, therefore, to put in some system of checks and balances. It is imminently sensible, particularly as the appropriate level of scrutiny being afforded to us today is all the more important.

Why did Coillte attend an Oireachtas committee several weeks ago to discuss its annual report but never made a single reference to the fact it felt hamstrung by the current legislative arrangements for borrowing and was in negotiations with Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Finance on the matter? It is an insult to the Oireachtas. As I said earlier on Second Stage, Coillte is not a Government or Fianna Fáil-Green Party sponsored body, it is a State-sponsored body. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is the appropriate venue for Coillte to articulate its concerns. Without a rational explanation forthcoming, I am disappointed the committee was snubbed.

The Minister baulked at giving a response to my question on if Coillte was originally looking for more than €400 million. Is Coillte borrowing the moneys for capital purposes, day-to-day expenditure or to fill the black hole in its pensions fund? These are issues which the truncated Second Stage debate did not allow us to address properly and I hope the Minister of State will be able to do so now.

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