Written answers

Thursday, 5 May 2016

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Coillte Teoranta

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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30. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is concerned about the manner in which it was first announced that staff in Coillte would be facing a redundancy programme, that it was mentioned in an interview in The Irish Times with the chief executive officer of Coillte on 22 April 2016 that 100 staff would be made redundant, before any announcement had been made to staff or consultation engaged in regarding redundancies; if he will seek justification from Coillte for these redundancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9248/16]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon 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 communications with the media, are the responsibility of the company.

In relation to the manner in which the employees were informed, I am advised that a series of meetings were held, beginning in early November 2015, to which all Coillte staff were invited, at which they were informed of the proposed restructuring of the company and the proposed reduction in staff numbers arising from that restructuring, and that management have engaged with staff in an ongoing way on the process in the interim.

The restructuring of the company formed part of the Government decision of June 2013 relating to Coillte. In line with that decision, Coillte carried out a strategic review of their business and are currently implementing a restructuring plan, one element of which is a cost reduction programme which includes the rollout of voluntary employee exit schemes to achieve the staffing levels envisaged under the proposed new company structure. It is noted that the proposed reduction in staff numbers is on a phased basis, starting at executive level, and will take place over the next year.

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