Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

He and his group have collected over 30,000 signatures in opposition to the sale of any part of Coillte harvesting rights or any other asset.

The reason there is such a broad coalition of opposition to the sale of Coillte harvesting rights is itself indicative of how many different reasons there are for opposing the sale. Every sector and stakeholder and anybody who has any concern with this issue has stated their opposition to it. It ranges from economists to scouts, the timber industry, trade unions and rural communities. Nobody supports it, because there is no good reason for it.

The troika and, it appears, this Government are only interested in the bottom line, that is, deficit and financial targets. The Minister made clear last night that this is the territory on which this decision will be made. I take heart from the fact that the Government is clearly shifting its position on this. Last night, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, stated that the Government agreed in principle in June last year to the sale of the harvesting rights of Coillte. The Minister of State has said it is being considered.

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