Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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19. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide an update on the merging of Coillte and Bord na Móna; and if he will provide a timescale of the establishment of a joint venture; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10463/15]

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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In June 2014, the Government decided to streamline and refocus the commercial operations of Bord na Móna and Coillte, primarily in the bioenergy and wind energy sectors. The decision requires Bord na Móna and Coillte to proceed with a partial merger in four key areas: wind; biomass; tourism and recreation; and shared services.

An Interdepartmental Steering Group, comprising senior officials from relevant departments, has been charged with overseeing the project which involves interaction with both companies as they progress with the partial merger. Both companies are committed to moving ahead with this challenging agenda and detailed work is proceeding on all areas of the initiative. It is anticipated that, subject to appropriate regulatory and other approvals and clearances being confirmed, the initial corporate structures will be in place later this year.

Progress is being made across all areas including:

- Establishing a biomass business, to be called BioEnergy Ireland, which will procure biomass at market rates from both Coillte and private sources and use this to supply the entire market, including Coillte’s board companies and Bord na Móna’s power station, on a competitive, commercial basis;

- Establishing a wind business comprising initially of two Coillte windfarms, with further integration of the wind assets of both companies over time;

- Developing shared services to consolidate central support services and drive cost efficiencies; and

- Developing Recreation and Tourism to realise the green / agri-tourism potential inherent in the combined land banks of the two companies.