Fears over future of Coillte and Bord na Móna to be raised by Ferris in Dáil

Martin Ferris TD: Concern over McCarthy Report leak

A LEAK from the McCarthy Group on State Assets adds to fears over the future of Coillte and Bord na Móna and their possible privatisation, Sinn Féin Natural Resources spokesperson Martin Ferris TD has said.

According to a piece by Brendan Keenan in Monday’s Irish Independent, the report will recommend a sale of forestry and peat and the establishment of a new company to ‘manage’ the land after the peat and timber are sold off.

The Fine Gael/Labour Party Programme for Government is committed to merging the two companies as a new bio energy entity.

Deputy Ferris said:

I will be raising this on the Order of Business on Tuesday afternoon and I also expect to receive replies to several questions I have tabled on the possible sale of Coillte and Bord na Mona and on the contents of the McCarthy Report.

The new Government has said that it will be guided on its sale of €2billion of state assets by the report. I am calling on them to honour their explicit promises during the election that Coillte would not be sold off.