Tánaiste says no privatisation of public land after Coillte criticism

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said there will be no privatisation of public land following criticism of a proposed afforestation agreement between Coillte and UK-based private investment fund Gresham House.

The agreement would mean Coillte managing up to 12,000 hectares of forest in Ireland, while the investment fund receives State grants under the €1.3 billion national forestry programme.

“Coillte will not sell out any existing publicly owned forests to the fund, nor will any other public body sell land to the fund,” said Mr Martin. “Any land purchased by the fund will already be in private ownership and no private landowner will be forced to sell land to the fund.”

Semi-State company

Mr Martin said the Government does not run Coillte and that it is a semi-State organisation.

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The Tánaiste was responding to Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil on Thursday, who said Coillte would “do all the work and private investors reap all the rewards”.

The Cork South-West TD said news of the scheme has sent “shockwaves around rural Ireland”.

“There are fears land prices are going to shoot up as a result of this land grab by private investments, and those fears are well placed,” she said.

“We have seen what happened with housing costs when vulture funds entered that market. Why should the impact on agricultural land be any different? Environmental groups are also deeply concerned. The Irish Wildlife Trust has labelled this a scandal. It would be devastating for our biodiversity.”

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Independent TD Marian Harkin said forestry targets could be met if farmers were “properly incentivised” to plant trees.

“We could reach our forestry targets by proactively engaging with farmers, local communities, and public authorities on certain State-owned lands,” she said.

“But instead, we are doing what we have done time and time again, we are engaging with large investment funds, Irish and foreign, because it is easier. We tick the box, we get it done, but we are ignoring the impact on communities, the negative impact on farmers, ignoring the fact that the kind of policy being pursued will fundamentally change settlement patterns in the west, northwest, southwest, parts of the midlands and other parts of the country.”

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State Pippa Hackett met with senior representatives of Coillte on Thursday.

The Department of Agriculture declined to answer questions about whether the proposed agreement between Coillte and Gresham House was discussed or what the outcome of any such discussion was. Coillte also failed to respond to queries on the matter.

Afforestation targets

The Department of Agriculture said Coillte updated the Ministers on how it will contribute to the nation’s afforestation targets and where this sits within the new €1.3 billion forestry programme.

Coillte outlined 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.

It also outlined how the total area of new forests planted through the fund will deliver roughly 3.5 per cent 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 per cent of that total.

Gresham House has been contacted for a statement by The Irish Times.