Coillte

Coillte

Type	Statutory Corporation
Industry	Forestry
Founded	1988
Headquarters	Newtownmountkennedy, Ireland
Area served	Republic of Ireland
Owner(s)	Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minister for Finance (on behalf of the Irish state)
Employees	1,100
Divisions	3 (Coillte Panel Products, Coillte Forest, Coillte Enterprise)
Website	Coillte.ie

Coillte (from Irish language, meaning Forestry) is a state-sponsored company in the Republic of Ireland, based in Newtownmountkennedy. Coillte is a commercial company operating in forestry, land-based businesses and added-value processing operations.^[1]

Operation

The company was established on 8 December 1988 and is owned by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Minister for Finance on behalf of the Irish Government.^[2] The new company replaced the old Forestry Commission. Coillte employs approximately 1,100 people^[3] and has three subsidiaries. The Coillte estate is 4,450 square kilometres of which 79% is forest; it owns 70% of forests in the country.

Between 1989 and 2007 Coillte has:

• Increased its Forest estate from 376,000ha to 445,421 ha. (445,315 ha are forested).
• Increased the value of its net assets from €730 million to €1,433 million.
• Increased its profits from a loss of €438K to profits of €40.1 million (2007).
• Turnover has grown from €38 million to €318 million (2007).
• The % of revenue derived from products and services other than roundwood sales has increased from 9% to 66.5%.^[4]

Future

As of 2011, there is speculation that Coillte could be sold by the Government of Ireland as part of cost cutting measures.^[5][6][7]

Coillte is currently seeking to calculate of the aggregate economic value of its 445,000ha of forest estate.^[8]

References

1. ^ Coillte Website
2. ^ Companies Registration Office records, number 138108
3. ^ Coillte website - About us section
4. ^ Coillte Website History Page
5. ^ "Bertie Ahern trip to China for forestry fund". http://www.tribune.ie/article/2010/dec/19/bertie-ahern-in-expenses-paid-trip-to-china-for-fo/. Retrieved 14 Jan 2011. 
6. ^ "Semi-State firms to be assessed". http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0722/breaking62.html. Retrieved 14 Jan 2011. 
7. ^ "Talks will be a charade if old delusions remain". http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/talks-will-be-a-charade-if-old-delusions-remain-2098793.html. Retrieved 14 Jan 2011. 
8. ^ "Evaluation of the Public Goods Value on the Coillte Forest Estate". http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JAN196415. Retrieved 09 Feb 2011.. 

External links

• Official website