Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1124. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider transferring the forestry holdings of Coillte to the National Parks and Wildlife Service to ensure that Ireland’s forestry will be preserved for non-commercial use and biodiversity will be conserved. [30102/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Coillte was established as a commercial state company with private limited status under the Forestry Act, 1988, to become custodian and manager of the national forest estate.

Coillte’s mandate is set out in Section 12 of the Forestry Act 1988 and provides, inter alia, that a principal object of the company is to carry on the business of forestry and related activities on a commercial basis, and in accordance with efficient silvicultural practices. The focus at the time when the company was established was to put the estate in the charge of a company that would realise its potential and support wood production. Coillte is currently managing 440,000 hectares of land (7% of the total area of the Republic of Ireland).

Coillte's role has evolved over time to reflect the company’s important role in addressing the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the forestry sector and our rural economy.

The current legislation governing the mandate of Coillte, together with Government policy, the existing Shareholder Letter of Expectations, existing National and EU legislation, along with Coillte’s own Strategic Vision, ensures that climate action and the protection and enhancement of nature and biodiversity are integral to the company’s role and operations. A total of 90,000 hectares, or the equivalent of one-fifth of Coillte’s forest estate, is currently managed primarily for biodiversity. In the longer-term, Coillte has the ambition to manage 30% of its estate primarily for nature and biodiversity.

I therefore believe that Coillte's role as custodian and manager of the national forest estate should remain unchanged, and I have no plans to transfer the national forest estate to the National Parks and Wildlife Service.