Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I spoke at some length to the departmental official the Deputy met and to whom he spoke. He is the Department's knowledge leader in respect of the forestry sector and he stated he is anxious to get to the bottom of this and to bring it to a conclusion before the end of the month. That is only another week or ten days.

Since the Deputy has mentioned the Coillte decision, I will be leaving the Chamber in approximately five minutes to attend a Cabinet meeting. Unusually, a Cabinet meeting is being held on a Wednesday rather than a Tuesday and I am bringing a recommendation on Coillte to the Cabinet today. Consequently, the Deputy will get an answer to his questions on the future of Coillte's harvesting rights and the Government's attitude to that, as well as to other issues regarding Coillte such as the potential of restructuring the company and so on. This is a decision I hope the Government will be able to take in an hour or so. This is just to inform the House.

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