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

The Minister may have read the article, and has probably been made aware by Coillte itself, that it recently announced that it would be looking at 25 of its land parcels with a view to developing large-scale industrial wind farms in partnership with the private sector. Does the Minister not think this is another example of Coillte departing from its core function, which is to be the guardian, protector and promoter of Ireland's forest estate? Does he not think that it should concentrate on that? This measure will almost certainly involve cutting down trees on those sites rather than growing them, which is what Coillte is supposed to do. It is just another example of the back-door commercialisation and semi-privatisation of Coillte, when it should be concerning itself with Ireland's forest estate.

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