The Irish Farmers Journal (IFA) has said that there has been no engagement with Coillte since the end of January, despite a representative from the semi-State body saying otherwise last week.

Chair of Coillte Bernie Gray told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture on Wednesday 1 March that it is engaging with the IFA over afforestation issues.

The IFA has said that it met with Coillte in late January 2023 to outline farmers' "deep concerns" with regards to Coillte’s afforestation plans, as set out in its strategic vision, and in particular its engagement with the forestry fund managed by Gresham House.

At that meeting, the IFA invited Coillte to attend a public meeting to provide a forum for farmers to engage with Coillte in relation to the investment fund and their future plans, IFA’s national farm forestry chair Jason Fleming said.

However, he added that there has been "no further engagement" with Coillte since.

Invitation

The IFA has stressed that the invitation to Coillte to attend a meeting still stands.

Gray told the Oireachtas committee that the extent of the challenge for Ireland to create an additional 450,000ha of new forests by 2050 is "immense".

"It clearly needs more discussion and debate between all the key stakeholders. It will require clear policy and indeed tough decisions," she said.

Coillte aims to grow 100,000ha of new forests by 2050.

"Coillte has already commenced discussions with representatives of the IFA in terms of how Coillte can support farmers in thrusting forward with afforestation," she said.

She said that one of the key challenges is the availability of land, which will be a critical enabler and Coillte is committed to working with all the key stakeholders.