Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 230: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of resources deployed in setting up Coillte and its contribution to the Exchequer; and if retaining the resource in the public domain may have derived better results. [43027/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Coillte Teoranta was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act, 1988 and commenced operation on 1 January 1989. As the legislation provides that all of the shares in the company are held by the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, it operates under the aegis of my Department. On vesting day, Coillte Teoranta took over the forestry business, and almost all of the assets, of the Forest Service. The principal asset transferred to Coillte on its establishment was 396,000 hectares of land, while 2510 staff also transferred to the company. Since its establishment, all of the profits made by Coillte have been reinvested in the company and national forest estate.

As outlined in the debate in 1988 on the establishment of the company, it was accepted that the full potential of forestry was constrained by its location within a Government Department and that, in order for it to operate successfully in a commercial environment, it was decided that the most appropriate format to adopt was that of a company under the Companies Act. I am satisfied with the progress and overall development of the company since its establishment. All of the company's Annual Reports and Accounts, which detail the performance of the company from 1989 up to 2007, have been published and are in the public domain.