Economy hit for €58m by forest cuts

THE €14.4m saved by the government on forestry expenditure will leave the economy €58m worse off with disadvantaged rural areas bearing the brunt of this loss says a UCC expert in the latest assessment of the Government Estimates cuts which shocked the industry last November.

Updated information from the Forest Service was used by Dr Richard Moloney of the Centre for Applied Policy Studies at UCC, who was commissioned by COFORD, the National Council for Forestry Research and Development to assess the economic impact.

He said 1,350 full-time jobs must go, with the loss of €58m of economic activity. The setback is expected to put 25 forestry contractors and a number of plant nurseries out of business, with job losses of 150 in nurseries, 410 in other forestry companies and 790 indirectly connected job losses projected.