Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 37:

In page 33, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:“31. Provision shall be made for a review of the Forestry Act 1988 to redefine Coillte objectives and operations.”.

The Minister of State is aware of where we are coming from. This is to affirm the status of Coillte because of the fears raised about the possibility of a merger, particularly by the union IMPACT. The Coillte branch of the union has made representations to the Oireachtas committee. The union has expressed the view that the merger of Bord na Móna and Coillte could leave the State forestry company as a small and relatively weak voice within a much larger company focused on energy production. There was a fear that the rebalancing of company priorities, following a merger, would be likely to divert wood to energy use rather than maintaining its most economic advantageous use. This clearly would seriously weaken the economic base of Coillte. The fear is that its focus and raison d'êtreas a forestry company could be affected. With speculation, it is important to affirm its status while the Bill is going through the House. This would redefine the objective and operations.