Future of Coillte's forestry harvesting rights to be debated
The future of one of the State's most lucrative assets - Coillte's forestry harvesting rights - will be debated in the Dáil this evening.
Under the bailout programme, the Government is planning to sell the rights for an estimated €600m.
A recent report found that under new owners, timber that is currently processed here could be exported for finishing abroad and result in job losses.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett has tabled a motion calling on the planned sale to be abandoned.
"The sale of Coillte is imminent, but there is still time to stop it," he said.
"We hope our motion will ring alarm bells with the public. We're also having a demonstration on Wednesday before the vote on our motion and we hope people who want to defend our environment and public access to the forest, will come out.
"We want to protect this hugely valuable aset that's part of our cultural heritage."
