Coillte and the land sell off.

listermint

What exactly is the win here for the tax payer?

Seems like Coillte do all the leg work. The firm then own the land and coillte further do the leg work and stuff is sold with a split profit ?

What exactly is the benefit in pulling investors into this scheme....

https://wicklownews.net/2023/01/wicklow-community-rightly-concerned-about-coillte-investor-deal/

elperello

The only thing that Gresham are bringing to the party is financial expertise.

We don't need them.

We can fund our own forests.

If that's the best that Coillte can come up with we should ask do we need them either.

bigroad

Must be no Irish investors interested ,or were they even asked.

the kelt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131370#Comment_120131370

But all the private forestry companies in the country have been doing this for years. Foreign investment funds using their expertise/money to invest in irish forestry. The forestry company gets a fee for doing the works, the investment fund reaps the rewards.

Its basically Coillte doing exactly the same. Coillte cant invest as much because they cant draw down grants and premiums like everyone else can.

Marcos

It stinks big time. Look at the opposition anger at this, SF, Social Democrats and even Labour.

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/farmers-charter-must-relieve-stress-and-anxiety-of-inspections/

If it turns out at a late date that corruption was involved that would be extremely concerning.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132762#Comment_120132762

But the ESB operate just fine financing stuff.

It smells, frankly.

As I said in the opener I simply can't see how they aren't able to do this on their own steam. Plenty of asset value funding should be a doddle.

What exactly is the real benefit to the taxpayer here.

redlough

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120134080#Comment_120134080

The opposition are angry over everything but once you ask them for an alternative they suddenly get very quiet. Hurlers from the ditch is the best expression.

Did they offer an alternative or just complain about the current one? from what I seen it was the usual moan

P.S. Im not saying Coillte are right by the way in how this has been run.

thinkabouit

https://youtu.be/wg5PDQiv4BM

Worth a watch

Ubbquittious

Planters trying to sneak back in after all these years

SuperBowserWorld

How to fool the Irish ...

Take an asset, wrap in it a Gaelic name, and sell it off. Then people can pretend they didn't know.

Also, the Irish really don't give a **** about having native Irish woodland or preserving their native flora and fauna. How many years have we been "independent" and we still have the land stripped bare. People pretending that planting Christmas trees will save us.

I hate to say it but we are a sad, tired, ignorant culture. We always keep selling out.

Just to remind people ...

"Selling out", or "sold out" in the past tense, is a common expression for the compromising of a person's integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles by forgoing the long-term benefits of the collective or group in exchange for personal gain, such as money or power."

Coillte cannot access grant aid for afforestation. so it will act as an agent on behalf of Gresham, apply to the state for funding to afforest and the state will cover the cost of planting the land. As the grant is generous, and fixed, Coillte with economies of scale can achieve this at a planting at a cost of 60% of the total grant, so it pockets the other 40%.

Gresham, an investment vehicle, with I assume many Tory party investors, most of whom are no friend of this country, will receive from the Irish taxpayer a yearly premium per hectare for 15 years. For commercial conifers that premium is proposed to be from €746 to €863/ha.

Sourcing for what is by any other name a vulture fund will drive up land prices, squeezing farmers who may seek to expand their agricultural or forest holdings. It will have the effect of squeezing further the private foresters because Coillte has its own foresters to process these applications.

It is part of a plan by DAFM Secretary General Brendan Gleeson and his man in charge of implementing this plan, Ass sec Colm Hayes to over time dismantle small forest holdings by making them nonviable and non-competitive in comparison to the behemoth to Coillte and its clients and is being facilitated by Imelda Hurley CEO of Coillte. The Forest Service has also given preferential treatment to Coillte in approving licences for felling before it does so for private land owners, and in licensing more than its quota.

How we have arrived at this juncture 100 years after the independence of this state, where we encourage the Tories to come and buy our land, and pay them for doing so is beyond me.

Gleeson, Hayes and Hurley, the people who have decided to allow British Investment funds buy Irish land and and who are using Irish taxpayer money to ensure healthy and attractive returns on those investments.

Is it too much that Gleeson and errand boy Hayes approach Irish investment funds step up to do the job Gresham is being paid to do?

MegamanBoo

Well we've opened up housing to these vulture funds, why not Forestry, it's the FFG way.

Do I remember something from the Celtic Tiger era about FFG politicians being very involved with Coillte financially?

I think this needs to bring attention to how we manage our forestry too. These Sitka plantations look like lovely greenery from afar but if you walk through them it's like a dead zone. Nothing else really grows or lives within. Land is pretty unusable after a few plantings. Not a bit carbon friendly.

MegamanBoo

https://thepropertypin.com/t/bertie-ahern-and-coillte-the-wood-from-the-trees/28371

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120137355#Comment_120137355

Alternate plan for what ?

What exactly is all of this for ?

Why does their need to be a plan to sell of lands to anyone. Call me confused but we got shafted with the lotto sale they're making money hand over fist in Canadian pension fund. Laughing at our sales stall.

Where does this stuff originate from.

A class of shite top public servants with no experience of the real world, and insulated from reality by overly generous salaries, perks and pensions.

We need to fire all top public servants and have them re-interview for their positions.

Bear in mind that there was a massive clear out of public servants in the wake of the last economic collapse-those who made mistakes and probably learned from the got the boot, the asslickers, sycophants and compliant stayed.