Around 10 farmers in forestry partnerships with Coillte travelled from as far away as Waterford and Kilkenny to attended an IFA information meeting in Killaloe on Thursday night – the first public forum attended by representatives of the company since issues about the contracts emerged at an Oireachtas hearing in December.

They again raised questions on the value of payments they would receive from Coillte and difficulties in communicating with the company. "You're not getting away with this," some shouted in anger and frustration.

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Farmers said they had not been able to obtain information about the value of timber already extracted from their forestry. "I begged the contractor to give me printouts. He never did because he was told not to," said Noel Copley from Co Kilkenny.

Missing information

Coillte’s strategy and business development director Bill Stanley acknowledged that this information had been missing in the past, but said it was now available. It will form part of new annual statements to be rolled out to farm partners. He also accepted that the contracts were unclear on who should pay for insurance.

Also from Co Kilkenny, Julie Murphy, who previously told the Irish Farmers Journal about uncertainty surrounding her payments, said contractors had left waste bags and cans of chemicals after thinning her forest in December. Stanley pledged to have them removed without delay.

Murphy was one of two partners who told the meeting they now wanted to end their partnerships with Coillte.

Another showed the Irish Farmers Journal letters from Coillte asking him to sign a pre-filled form containing the minutes of the annual meetings provided for in his contract, but said that no meeting had taken place in the past four years.

Case studies

The company and an accountant working with IFA members told the meeting of widely different case studies they had worked out from existing contracts, with a one-to-six variation in the income per hectare retained by the farmer.

Several farmers complained that a forester who had a good relationship with them at the start of their contracts had been moved to another position, and Stanley agreed to involve him in resolving current issues.

We need an independent body to be set up to review the contracts, and some form of arbitration

He added that of 60 farmers who had called Coillte's helpline since December, 30 had seen their case closed, 25 were on their way to be resolved and five needed further engagement. There are 630 farmers in partnerships with Coillte, 80% of whom are still receiving Government premiums and have not yet entered the phase of their contracts when they get paid by the company.

Coillte staff were on hand after the meeting to offer individual meetings with dissatisfied farmers, but those present declined and asked for group mediation instead on the advice of IFA forestry chair Pat Collins. "We need an independent body to be set up to review the contracts, and some form of arbitration," Collins said.

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