Government TD calls for ‘failing’ Coillte to be axed
THE controversy-hit Coillte should be wound down, says a Government TD, who accuses the State forestry agency of ‘failing’ the people it is meant to serve.
Green Party finance and health spokeswoman Neasa Hourigan ramped up pressure on the agency in the wake of the fallout over Coillte’s deal to sell up to 12,000 hectares of land to Gresham House, a British investment firm.
She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘As a body for forestry [it] is a failure. It’s no longer fit for purpose and should be wound down or fundamentally reformed.’
Ms Hourigan added: We know that forestry can be a viable and important commercial sector, but we now also know our forests are a vital source of climate mitigation for this country.
‘Any State or semi-State body that fails to operate on that basis is, in fact, failing the people by placing profit ahead of survival, by placing corporate interest ahead of our nation building.’
Ms Hourigan’s intervention comes amid growing resistance to the controversial land sale from opposition politicians, farmers and environmentalists.
The Irish Wildlife Trust has also criticised the deal, saying it will only result in the planting of the country’s ‘most commercially viable’ woodland. Coillte has defended the deal, insisting it needs to raise capital to plant and acquire forests in order to meet the Government’s national afforestation target of planting 8,000 hectares per year. The long-term target is to increase Ireland’s forest cover, from 11.6% 18% – compared to an EU average of 40%.
However, amid growing fallout over the deal, Independent TD Carol Nolan has called on the Government to consider removing Coillte board members who were appointed by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The Laois-Offaly TD told the MoS: ‘Given the near universal agreement by forestry organisations, farming organisations and environmental groups that this deal is an unmitigated disaster, the minister must consider removing the directors appointed by his office for spectacularly bad judgement.’
However, despite the fallout over the huge land sale to the British investment firm, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue gave his backing to the Coillte board for its continued good governance.
Having enjoyed a significant increase in profits in recent years, dividends paid by Coillte back to the State have been highly lucrative. Figures provided by the forestry agency show dividends held steady at up to 25% of profits since 2018 – €15m on profits of €71.5m.
In 2019 Coillte paid out dividends of €13m on profits of €63.3m, and while the pandemic saw profits – and State dividends – drop dramatically in 2020, the following year, the agency paid out a very healthy €30m on profits of €124.4m.
Ms Hourigan said: ‘We do not really have any serious budgetary oversight of the operations of Coillte. In fact, generally there is very little Dáil oversight of the decisions made by Coillte.’
Coillte was contacted for comment.