‘Forests sale will cost jobs’

The sale of Coillte’s harvesting rights could see 2,500 jobs lost and all of Ireland’s commercial sawmills facing closure, those opposed to the plan have warned.

Appearing before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, the Irish Timber Council (ITC) yesterday urged the Government not to carry out its proposed sale of the harvesting rights, saying the financial benefit to the State would not be that significant.

Pat Glennon, the ITC chairman, said: “Our key message to Government is not to sell the harvesting rights, as any benefit to the exchequer... will be so small and disproportionate compared to the negative impacts on the sawmill sector.”

He said Ireland’s 10 commercial sawmills are already paying a high price — “a premium of 29%” — for Coillte’s logs and any purchaser of the harvesting rights is likely to increase prices further, to maximise return on their investment.

“This will lead to sawmills closing and jobs being lost,” he claimed.

The Government is to decide on the proposed sale in the coming weeks, following what agriculture committee chairman. Fine Gael’s Andrew Doyle. called “considerable public debate” in recent months.

“Both minister [Simon] Coveney and [Brendan] Howlin have acknowledged that this is a complex issue and a range of options are currently being considered,” Mr Doyle said.

The ITC commissioned a report recently examining the impacts of a sale and yesterday said that if the Government is forced — by the troika — to sell, “a range of important guarantees must be attached, to protect security of supply for the sawmill operators”.

“Timber is one of our most valuable indigenous natural resources, and in 2011 alone we exported €308m worth of forest products from Ireland,” said Mr Glennon. “Ireland has always had a strong history associated with timber, and we need to ensure we can guarantee a future supply.”