'Hugely exciting time for forestry' says Laois Offaly minister after Coillte meeting as row over British forestry deal erupts

Laois Offaly based minister Pippa Hackett met with the bosses of Coillte to discuss its long its long-term strategic vision for use of lands in Laois and other counties as the forestry company has landed itself in a row over a deal with a British investment fund which has been termed a 'land grab'.

The Government has been called on to step in to halt a proposed afforestation agreement between Coillte and the UK-based private investment fund Gresham House.

A number of TDs and backbenchers expressed their anger at the proposed agreement, which would see Coillte manage up to 12,000ha of forest in Ireland, while the investment fund receives the grants and premia offered by the state under the national forestry programme.

It's claimed the deal between Coillte, which the public owns, and asset management company  involves the purchase of land from private landowners in Ireland, including both planted and unplanted land, to increase forestry cover.

Coillte already manages 16,522 hectares (c41,000 acres) of forestry in Laois mainly in the Slieve Bloom mountains. It is part of the Midlands Business Area Unit which also takes in Cavan, Longford, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Westmeath, Roscommon and a large area of county Leitrim.

The Midlands is Coillte’s largest BAU covering 1,675,019 hectares or nearly 25% of Ireland. Within this area, Coillte owns 71,318 hectares (4.26%) of which just over eighty percent is forested.

Coillte told Laois County Council in 2020 that it has grown the estate to over 440,000 hectares and provides
stewardship over approximately 7% of the total land mass of the country. 

Sinn Féin's agriculture spokesperson Matt Carthy Carthy told the Dáil the deal represented “a land grab..about corporate profits”.

“Government can, and it should, state categorically, that it will not permit the use of €2 billion plus of Irish taxpayers’ money to be used to facilitate this land grab.

“The minister for agriculture is the shareholder in Coillte on behalf of the Irish people, and he can and he should instruct Coillte to immediately stall this plan,” he added.

There was no reference to the deal in a statement issued by the the Department of Agriculture following a meeting involving Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State Hackett and senior representatives of Coillte.

Its also reported that neither Minister would answer any questions on the Gresham House/Coillte-backed forestry fund during a briefing for Oireachtas members on interim forestry schemes on Thursday, January 19. 

The Departments statement said they met on Thursday, January 19 to discuss Coillte’s progress in developing and implementing its long-term strategic vision for 2050, which is focused on optimising Coillte’s contribution to Ireland’s climate action targets.

The Department said Coillte updated the Ministers on the implementation of its strategic vision and where this sits within the new farmer-focussed €1.3 billion Forestry Programme. A critical part of this strategy is how Coillte will contribute to the nation’s afforestation targets in line with Government policy. 

The Ministers asked Coillte to update them further on the range of possible models to deliver on its targets for new forest creation between now and 2050. The statement said central to this update will be a consideration of how Coillte can work more closely with farmers and local communities. 

The Department said Coillte outlined to the Ministers its intention that the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund will plant an average of 700 hectares of new forests across each of the next five years, and how the total area of new forests planted through the fund will deliver roughly 3.5% of the 100,000 hectares of new forests Coillte has committed to enabling by 2050. Of the State’s overall national target of 450,000 hectares of new forests by 2050, the fund will plant less than 1% of that total.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, commented: “Farmers will be central to the success of our overall forestry strategy. The Government has been clear in its policy direction through the design of the Forestry Programme and the Climate Action Plan that farmers will have the biggest opportunity to deliver on our forestry targets, and to benefit from our forestry payments.  

“We have put a funding package of €1.3 billion in place for the next Forestry Programme, and the incentives under the Programme are designed to attract and reward farmers ahead of any other landowners.  In addition to the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund, we have asked Coillte to consider the range of models it will use to deliver on its targets for new forest creation between now and 2050 including potentially working more closely with farmers or acquiring land directly in a way that supports the environment, the rural economy and farm family incomes. 

“Farmers are at the heart of this ambitious and well-funded Programme. In addition to single farm payments on afforested land, which other landowners will not receive, farmers will be paid 20 years of premium under the new Programme, compared to other landowners who will receive 15 years of payments.”

Minister of State with responsibility for Forestry, Senator Hackett commented: “This is a hugely exciting time for Irish forestry, and we have designed a Forestry Programme that will deliver for climate, for biodiversity and for our farmers.  Our targets for new forest creation are ambitious, as they should be, and Coillte has committed to playing its part by delivering 100,000 hectares out of our total national target of 450,000 hectares by 2050.  With the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund targeting to deliver 3,500 hectares of afforestation over five years, this represents a small yet important step towards achieving the nation’s afforestation target. Given that roughly two thirds of our landmass is farmland, our farmers will be the primary drivers of Ireland’s afforestation efforts, and the primary beneficiaries of our new €1.3 billion Forestry Programme thanks to the way we have tailored the incentives under the new programme.”

Speaking after the meeting, the Ministers concluded: “Coillte has a critical role to play in meeting our ambitious forestry plans. We heard today how the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund is one of a number of models Coillte will deploy in contributing to our overall forestry targets. There is also potential for Coillte to deliver new forests at scale on public land, and in this context we are encouraged by the progress Coillte is making in engaging with local authorities and state bodies to identify land that is already in public ownership and suitable for forestry.”