Dáil debates
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Coillte Business Strategy.
Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
My Department has been appraised of the details of Coillte's multi-annual business plan, as submitted in its strategy document, and is supportive of its business strategy.
The company's strategy document, Destination 2012: Make it Happen, submitted to the Department in April 2009 outlined a number of strategies for the future development of the company. Land development is one of those strategies and includes obtaining planning permission for housing and other developments that enhance the value of sites. This is a continuation of a strategy adopted by the company in the past two decades.
The strategy document described possible development projects, which included the development of nursing care facilities. Coillte identified a possible development opportunity in this area based on projected demographics.
The company carried out a feasibility study on the development of nursing care facilities on Coillte properties during the summer of 2009. Coillte advise that the opportunity for new nursing care facilities is strong, given a projected quadruple increase in the population of 65 years and upwards in the next 14 years, the introduction and strict application of new standards of facilities and operations under the auspices of the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, and the introduction of legislation supporting deferred payment for access to facilities - the Fair Deal scheme - which will underpin the viability of nursing home operators.
In the course of its investigations Coillte met a number of potential developers of nursing care facilities who were interested in developing Coillte sites. One such company was Kilbrew Recuperation and Nursing Care, which currently operates an award winning nursing home and independent living facility at Curragha, County Meath.
Following discussions with Kilbrew, Coillte authorised the company to apply for planning permission on behalf of Coillte for five nursing care-independent living developments on Coillte property in December 2009. These planning submissions have been validated by the planning authorities and their designs have been verified to be in compliance with HIQA standards.
The company submitted applications as follows:
| County | Nearest town/village | Site area (hectares) | No. of beds | Size of proposed building | Independent living units/area | Car park spaces |
| Wexford | Wexford | 8.6 | 108 | 6,486m2(single storey) | 10/584m2 | 59+14 |
| Cork | Castlemartyr village | 2.0 | 90 | 5,799m2(two storey) | None | 40 |
| Clare | Ennis | 3.2 | 82 | 5,559m2(two storey) | None | 31 |
| Galway | Carrabane Village | 5.6 | 100 | 6,030m2(two storey) | 9/531m2 | 45+15 |
| Mayo | Westport | 1.8 | 86 | 5,393m2 (one & two storey) | None | 76 |
The current position on the five planning applications is that planning permission has been refused for the site in Wexford; the planning authorities have sought further information relating to the sites in Cork and Clare; and consideration of the applications for the remaining two sites in Galway and Mayo has been deferred.
Coillte has advised that the company's focus is on leveraging the development value of the land and that it is not its intention to get involved in operating nursing homes. Its intention is to realise the value of the sites by selling the planning permitted sites on to third parties.
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