Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. If that was the case I would indeed be concerned. Coillte was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act 1988 and day-to-day operational matters, such as the management of its lands, are the responsibility of the company. I recently had the opportunity to meet with the chairman and the CEO of Coillte and we reviewed the performance of the company. I was very impressed with the direction of the company and I noted in particular the dividend of €7.2 million it paid to the Exchequer last year.

The matter of its wind farms portfolio was raised with Coillte which advises it has, over the last number of years, refocused its business on core forestry with the ambition of becoming the best forestry and land solutions company in Europe. The company advises that a key part of this strategy is to grow its forestry business and to maximise the value of non-core land. I understand that a key driver for Coillte wanting to bring in a partner on future renewable projects is that it agrees its core focus should be on forestry and land solutions and has no intention of becoming a utility company.  Coillte expects that, by bringing in a partner, it will be able to stay focused on its core business and extract value from its non-core forestry land. The company outlined the rationale for this proposed approach at my recent meeting with it.

In respect of afforestation generally, I would like to stress the Government’s commitment to the increase of the national forest estate through the ongoing allocation of funding to support afforestation and other measures. This commitment is evident from the forestry allocation announced as part of budget 2018.  The allocation of €106 million, including a capital carryover, for forestry development will allow for the planting of over 6,600 ha of new forests next year.

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