Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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91. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide details of any role or involvement he has in the proposed Coillte-Gresham House deal in relation to the future of Irish forestry; if he will outline the tax treatment of such an investment plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3143/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I should say that policy responsibility for the development of forestry in Ireland is within the remit of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and of course Coillte. I understand that the development of the investment fund referred to by the Deputy arises in the context of the plan to expand forest cover in Ireland to meet climate change targets.

In the context of the issue raised by the Deputy, I can outline the role of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). For ISIF its statutory mandate is what it refers to as a “double bottom line” mandate of investing for a commercial return and investing to support economic activity and employment in Ireland. ISIF has disclosed that it is investing €25m as part of a wider €200m fund, which will acquire land from farmers and private landowners who wish to sell to the fund at market rates.

ISIF has also informed me that its investment is part of both its Food & Agriculture and wider €1bn climate action investment programme, complementing its existing investments in forestry, renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy storage, and generating further progress in Ireland’s transition to a Net Zero economy.

ISIF complies with all applicable laws including tax law. The tax treatment of the Fund is set out at note 6 on page 189 of the NTMA’s 2021 Annual Report.