Farmers call for review of forestry partnership
Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue and minister of state Pippa Hackett are being invited to appear before the Oireachtas agriculture committee over the forestry plan. Picture: Chris Bellew /Fennell Photography
TDs and farming organisations have called for a rethink of Coillte's forestry partnership with a UK investment fund.
Government sources say the partnership is a "done deal", despite Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue being set to meet the semi-state body on Thursday, and fears have been expressed by groups including the IFA that the new fund could price farmers out of the land market.
Thousands of acres of rural Ireland are expected to be sold to Gresham House as part of an afforestation deal with Coillte.
The Irish Strategic Forestry Fund (ISFF) was launched by Coillte and Gresham House to attract Irish and International investors to create new forests and acquire existing forests across Ireland in a bid to reach the State’s climate targets.
Members of the Oireachtas agriculture committee met privately on Monday and were writing to Mr McConalogue and minister of state for land use and biodiversity, Pippa Hackett, to appear before the committee as soon as possible over the matter.
Coillte management will also be invited to appear before the committee in the coming weeks.
Both ministers will be meeting Coillte on Thursday following “extreme unease” over the plan to finance new forestry investment in Ireland.
It’s understood Mr McConalogue does not want to see Irish farmers priced out of the land market.
However, a Government source familiar with discussions said they did not believe it was possible to go back to the drawing board and that it was a “done deal”.
They said Coillte did not require sign-off from the minister.
They claimed the partnership would only see a small amount of land and “nothing near” what has been reported for new afforestation and argued that the partnership would not push up the price of land.
According to the department, of the 100,000 hectares of new forests Coillte will plant by 2050 as part of its strategic vision, just 3.5% of those forests will be created through the ISFF.
According to Coillte, the ISFF, which aims to assemble a €200m fund to create new forests and buy some existing forestry, will represent a portfolio of around 12,000 hectares of new and existing forests over time.
Speaking to the , Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary, Jackie Cahill, said an investment company isn’t interested in Ireland trying to meet its climate targets and is only interested in making money for their investors.
“I don’t care if it’s Irish, British, Ukrainian, or Russian, or whatever, I think it’s wrong. I would hope that Coillte will have a rethink of the strategy and that they will go back and finance the purchase of the land themselves,” Mr Cahill said.
He said he does not accept Coillte’s argument that private investment is needed to ensure climate targets are met and said the semi-state body should be able to finance the purchase of land.
He said he will raise the matter with Tánaiste Micheál Martin at the party’s parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday night.
Mr McConalogue has sought to downplay any fears and has previously said family farms have an advantage over investment funds in competing for forestry land in the State’s €1.3bn forestry programme.
The scheme was announced by Mr McConalogue and Ms Hackett in November but it is still awaiting approval from the EU.
Under the new forestry programme, farmers will receive 20 years of premium payments, compared to 15 years of premium payments for non-farmers.
