Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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905. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will publish in full the shareholder letter of expectation issued to Coillte on 2 June 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6829/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies requires that Government Departments should ensure that they have written oversight agreements clearly defining the terms of the State Body’s relationship with the relevant Minister/parent Department.

For commercial State bodies the oversight agreement between the relevant Minister/parent Department and the State Body is the Shareholder Letter of Expectation.

A Shareholder letter of Expectation issued from Minister of State Hackett to Coillte on 2nd June 2022, co-signed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

In keeping with the principle of full transparency, I have already forwarded the 2022 Shareholder Letter of Expectation to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine on 3rd February 2023 together with the 2017 and 2014 letters for the information of all members. I am also making arrangements for these to be published on my Department's website shortly.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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906. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the dividend policy of Coillte was last reviewed; the outcome of such review; when the next review is likely to take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6830/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Coillte’s dividend policy focuses on delivering a material financial dividend to shareholders based on the optimal use of the significant commercial assets, in particular forests, vested in the company by the state.

The dividend policy was last reviewed in 2019 and provides for a dividend payment of 20% to 30% of normalised profits each year, which has formed the basis for all dividend payments to date. The 2022 Shareholder Letter of Expectation noted that the dividend policy was expected to be reviewed. This review is currently under way and will conclude later this year.