Coillte
Coillte is a state-sponsored company in the Republic of Ireland, based in Newtownmountkennedy. The name 'Coillte' is Irish Gaelic for "Forests" or "Woods". It is a commercial company operating in forestry, land-based businesses and added-value processing operations.[1]
Operation
The company was established in 1988 to replace the Forestry Commission. It was incorporated as a commercial company, but is owned by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister for Finance on behalf of the Irish Government. Coillte employs approximately 1,000 people[2] and has three subsidiaries. The Coillte estate is 1,718 square miles of which 79% is forest. It manages 70% of forests in the country.
In 20 years of operation between 1989 and 2009, Coillte had:
- Increased its forest estate from 929,115 acres to 1,224,210 acres. (of which 1,199,238 acres are forested)
- Increased profits from a loss of €438K to profits of €60.5 million (2014)[3]
- Grown turnover from €38 million to €298 million (2009)
- Increased roundwood sales from 0.5 million cubic metres to 2.5 million cubic metres.
According to Coillte, 15% (217,000 acres) of the estate is managed with biodiversity as the primary objective.
Future
In 2011, there was speculation that Coillte could be sold by the Government of Ireland as part of cost-cutting measures.[4][5][6]
See also
Outside links
References
- ↑ Coillte
- ↑ Coillte - About us
- ↑ Coillte announces 46% growth in operating profit to €60.5m - Coillte
- ↑ Bertie Ahern trip to China for forestry fund, 16 January 2011
- ↑ Semi-State firms to be assessed - The Irish Times, 7 July 2010
- ↑ Talks will be a charade if old delusions remain - Alan Ruddock in The Irish Independent, 14 March 2010