Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of this motion and I commend the ULA Members on their tabling of it. The sale of the harvesting rights to Coillte could go down as one of the most short-sighted decisions by this most short-sighted of Governments. The decision to sell State assets is a knee-jerk reaction on the part of the Government, made at the behest of the troika, to pursue an agenda of privatisation and liberalisation. How can the sale of our forestry rights over the long term assist the recovery and development of our State? It will merely open up the resources of our citizens to private capital.

There are four main reasons Coillte should not be sold. The company supplies 80% of the timber used by sawmills in this State, and if the sale proceeds there is no evidence to suggest this supply chain will be maintained. Evidence from other countries, such as New Zealand, indicates that the opposite will be the case, with raw wood exported and work lost by domestic mills. The sawmill industry currently employs approximately 1,800 people and generates wages of €90 million annually. Up to 3,000 more jobs could be threatened from the sale of Coillte's harvesting rights. Our forestry could also support the development of a wood biomass industry that, if nurtured, could be used to strategically change the direction of home heating in this country. We import more than €1 billion in home heating oil annually but we produce more than five times the amount of wood necessary to heat the entire country. This would be a carbon-neutral policy. It is ironic that on the day the Government published the heads of the climate change Bill the sale of this important source of carbon-neutral heating is being discussed. Coillte has control over 7% of the landmass of this State, much of which is located in areas suitable for the development of wind energy. If harvesting rights are sold, access to this resource will be lost and the opportunity to meet our climate change obligations could be greatly reduced. Realigning Coillte and the ESB, along with Bord Gáis, with a view to maximising renewable resources could be of great value to Irish society. The State could generate considerable revenue in dividends from semi-state companies, which would do more for debt reduction than any short-term gain from the sale of the companies concerned.

Should Coillte be sold, there will continue to be a need to maintain the public forests that provide social amenities. The proposals for the sale do not contain any provision for the amenity value of our forests. Their future maintenance will have to be funded from State resources rather than Coillte revenues. What will be the future for open access to forests if this sale proceeds? Are we to believe that investment funds will take on a public interest role in allowing public access to our forests? They will certainly not do so without being paid a premium by the State.

The proposal to sell the harvesting rights to Coillte forests is a crazy solution to our debt problems. It is not based on a realistic examination of the value the company can bring to our economy and society. IMPACT has published a report by Peter Bacon which estimates the net present cost of the sale at more than €1.3 billion. This is far higher than any estimates of the amount the sale could realise. The sale will cost more than that, however. The loss of opportunity for Irish people to benefit from their own resources will be far more costly. The Government should go back to the troika to show it how we can maximise the development of our semi-state companies. The troika would find it difficult to reject a plan that shows how the timber products sector and biomass and renewable energy potential of Coillte can play a huge role in our economic recovery and the remodelling of our economy. Rather than meekly accepting the dictates of the troika, let us develop a plan that will benefit the Irish people. If our so-called partners are really interested in a robust Irish economy that can grow for the future benefit of its citizens, they will be happy to work with such a plan.

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