In a priority question to the Minister for Agriculture in the Dail yesterday, Richard Boyd Barrett TD, People Before Profit/ULA challenged Minister, Simon Coveney over what he described as a “very suspicious veil of secrecy and lack of information surrounding the government’s plan to sell-off the harvesting rights to Ireland’s state forests.”
Deputy Boyd Barrett said there was a complete lack of open public consultation around the disposal plan. He said that neither the government, nor the state Forestry regulator, the Forest Service, had provided any analysis or detail on the current state of Irish forestry, the economic value of public forests or how privatisation might affect the sustainability of Irish forestry and employment in the sector.
Deputy Boyd Barrett described the plan to sell off Coillte’s rights under the Troika programme as, “the ultimate betrayal of the country and its citizens”, saying the disposal plan amounted to a plan “to asset strip the country of one of its most precious and valuable resources in order to pay off the gambling debts of bankers and transfer those resources into the hands of the very same bankers.”
Deputy Boyd Barrett said: “It is utterly outrageous that the government are planning to sell-off this priceless resource to pay off the debts of bankers, but it stinks to high heaven that such a veil of secrecy and lack of information surrounds the plan to sell this precious asset.”
“There has been no proper reporting or transparency in Irish forestry over recent years, particularly in the context of €108 million worth of forests being sold off since 2009, much of it to banks, and how this might be affecting the sustainability of Irish forestry.
It is extremely suspicious and incredible that this lack of information and lack of accountability surrounds the planned sale of the harvesting rights of our entire public forest estate, particularly, when again, it is very likely that it will be banks domestic or foreign may end up owning our forests.
The whole affair stinks to high heaven. Where are the reports? Where is the analysis? Where are the valuations? There is every reason to believe that this lack of transparency masks a scandal where effectively this vital and precious resource is being given away.
Any plans to sell our forests or any aspect of them need to be stopped immediately and we need a full investigation into what is happening with Irish Forestry.