Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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443. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on unpaid payments for forestry harvested under farm partnerships entered into by over 600 farmers with Coillte from the 1990s onwards through various forestry schemes; if he had discussions with Coillte in this regard in ensuring payments due are paid; and if he has directly asked the State body under his remit for an immediate review of all such schemes and unpaid payments. [11647/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Coillte was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act, 1988 and day-to-day operational matters, such as the Coillte Farm Partnership Scheme, are the responsibility of the company.

Coillte has confirmed, however, that there are no cases where farmers have not been paid what they are due and that it is fulfilling all of its contractual obligations. They have also confirmed that all timber that is harvested to date has been included in profit calculations that determine payments to the partners.

The company has been updating my Department in relation to this matter on a regular basis since it was raised by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine in December 2017. My colleague, Minister of State Andrew Doyle, TD, who has special responsibility for forestry, met with Coillte on 6 February 2018, at which Coillte provided a comprehensive update.  Coillte also provided an update to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine at its meeting on Tuesday, 27 February 2018. As advised by Coillte at the latter meeting, Coillte retained KPMG to carry out an independent review of how payments are calculated and to verify that the calculation methodology is in line with the contract.