Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I will be coming to that specific point in response to one of the points raised by Deputy Sherlock.

On the second aspect of the amendment, the moneys borrowed temporarily shall be noted in the annual report of the company for that accounting year. The annual report and accounts of the company already show the net debt at the beginning and end of each year on one of the notes in the financial statements, and as the statutory borrowing limit is as provided in the Act, it is clear for anyone calculating what are the amounts of temporary or long-term borrowings. That is already de facto in each of the annual reports.

On the additional points, Deputy Sherlock mentioned the inflation level, which, frankly, I thought should be bigger than that but which, on checking, appears to be correct. The current borrowing level, including the €100 million, is €188.9 million. This includes temporary and long-term borrowing. The Deputy is right that under the original legislation it might be possible to provide up to €260 million, but we have considerable concerns in that regard. In view of the fact that we were competing for resources at the level of the Parliamentary Counsel and the drafting offices, I decided to come forward with this and I will explain why.

Deputy Sherlock mentioned that in my speech - I only managed to deliver approximately half of it so he might not have seen all of the original text - that there was no reference to the pensions deficit. My reason for this is that it is not an immediate issue for 2010. It is more a medium-term issue to be addressed in the context of the strategic plan, and perhaps also in the context of the other legislation I mentioned.

I would also have liked to have gone into some detail, for example, on the voluntary early retirement scheme which Coillte introduced last year, but that was not possible in the time allowed. Regarding the remuneration of the board and the CEO, I understand that the 10% which is being applied to all boards has been applied in that regard. In the context of the overall borrowing requirement, the CEO's remuneration is obviously not very large. Although there is a case for considering the remuneration of CEO, it is not necessarily central to this Bill.

Deputy Sherlock mentioned the audit of the Coillte Forestry Stewardship Council. I take the stewardship council and its views very seriously. It is something that we raise on a regular basis with Coillte, more frequently, in fact, than in some of the standard meetings.

Returning to the original question raised by Deputy Creed, which was also raised by Deputy Sherlock, regarding the appearance of Coillte before the committee, I was not present but I read the entire proceedings of the meeting. That was a while ago and I do not remember the specific detail particularly well. Nevertheless, if the point being made by Deputies is that any company appearing before an Oireachtas committee ought to be open in respect of the procedure then I very much agree that should be the case. There is little I can do about it because I am not there on every occasion, except to confirm I would be pleased to appear before the committee on this and related issues. In addition, I would be pleased to appear before the committee when the review has been completed and to outline anything that may arise. Alternatively, if the committee seeks to have an input into that review I would be pleased to accommodate such a request if we can find a means to do so. There is a fundamental point at issue and I agree with the Deputies that the House has a role of scrutiny that should be accommodated. A space should be provided for it and if it cannot be done between companies and an Oireachtas committee, I would be pleased to facilitate such scrutiny for any of the companies for which I have responsibility.

Deputy Sherlock queried whether the extra borrowing allowed for carbon offsetting measures. This is a matter I seek to have addressed as part of the review. I have made it clear to Coillte that its afforestation remit must be considered not so much in the context of this borrowing requirement, but of its strategic plan.

Deputy Sheehan complained about the rushed legislation. There could have been well in excess of two hours for this debate had there not been daft votes on other procedural wrangles. In any case, none of us has any control over that.

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