Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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545. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will direct Coillte to cease the selling off of State forestry lands. [2767/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Coillte Teoranta was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act, 1988 and day-to-day operational matters, such as the sale and acquisition of land which take place regularly, are the responsibility of the company. This transaction is an operational matter at the discretion of the company and is separate from the Government decision that a concession for the harvesting rights to Coillte’s forests be put forward for sale. Coillte advises that it only sells land where it is not of strategic importance for its forestry business and where it can maximise the value of the land sold.