Green Party Senator Malcolm Noonan has raised questions in the Seanad as to why Coillte abolished its Coillte Nature branch.

He argued that the decision to "quietly" absorb Coillte Nature into the main company signals that Coillte is not committed to nature restoration.

Coillte Nature was a not-for-profit branch of Coillte dedicated to nature restoration across Ireland - part of its work included the Dublin Mountains makeover project.

Coillte has said that the work of this branch of Coillte has been absorbed into the main company and its nature and biodiversity projects were being continued.

'Specific role'

"In the strategic vision 2022, Coillte Nature has a very specific role and now it has been deleted. I do think it's important that we do get answers in relation to this.

"You would expect that Coillte would have improved on its communications with all its stakeholders and the general public in light of a decision like this.

"It's removing a very specific piece of its function - a not for profit - which had a very dedicated team working on nature restoration. That to me doesn't spell very good commitment towards nature restoration."

In response to Senator Noonan, on behalf of Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, Minister John Cummins backed up Coillte, who said that this reorganisation within the company will allow a more integrated approach to all nature and biodiversity projects.

"It's certainly not the intention that there would be any lesser focus on biodiversity and nature," he said.