Coillte forestry payments
Deputy Kenny raised a critical situation for farmers in Coillte partnerships who say they are unpaid and poorly treated. The Tánaiste said Coillte had acknowledged problems, most arrangements were working, and he expected the company to address the outstanding issues quickly.
There is a commitment to afforestation in the programme for Government and the Government has supported afforestation. There is currently a critical situation where there are 700 farmers around the country who have contracts or partnerships with Coillte and are being treated abysmally by a semi-State company. They are not being paid. There is no communication. It is a scandalous situation. We need the Government to intervene. I know it is a semi-State company and that it is at arm's length, but the way it is treating citizens is shameful.
Comment on this
This issue was raised in the media this morning. Coillte has accepted that it has issues to address. The vast majority of forestry and farm partnerships that involve Coillte appear to be working well but some farmers have questions that require answers from Coillte. As I understand it, there was an acceptance from Coillte this morning that it needs to address those issues quickly and I expect that it will.