Irish government shelves Coillte harvesting rights sale

But the government’s decision does not rule out a sale in the future, with “all options” to maximise value from Coillte on the table in 18 months’ time after a period of restructuring for the state forester.

Sawmillers had protested against the sell-off proposal for months, arguing that it would have decimated the industry, with the possible closure of all 10 of Ireland’s sawmills and the loss of 2,500 jobs.

Irish agriculture minister Simon Coveney admitted the potential consequences for the timber industry had been a factor in reaching the decision.

“At its meeting today, the government decided that now is not the appropriate time to proceed with the sale of harvesting rights in Coillte and that the current focus must be on the restructuring of Coillte, overseen by NewERA and the relevant stakeholder departments,” said the minister.

“As I have said, on numerous occasions, the government will continue to proceed carefully with the finalisation of any decision on this matter as we are determined to realise commercial potential but also to protect the public value that Coillte offers by maintaining public access to its forests and supporting the broader timber industry.”

The government will be evaluating a merger of Coillte with state utilities company Bord na Mona to create a refocused state company operating in the bio-energy and forestry sectors.

It is considering all options to maximise value from Coillte when restructuring is complete in 18 months' time.

Coillte said it fully supported the government’s decision and it was confident restructuring would provide a strong platform to capture significant future growth opportunties for the company.

For more on this story see next week’s issue of TTJ.