Coillte

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Coillte
Type Statutory Corporation
Industry Forestry
Founded 1988
Headquarters Newtownmountkennedy, Ireland
Area served Ireland
Owner(s) Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, 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 HQ, Newtownmountkennedy

Coillte (Irish pronunciation: [ˈkəilʲtʲə], meaning "Forests"/"Woods") is a state-sponsored company in 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, Food and the Marine 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 manages 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]

According to the Coillte website, 15% (88,000 hectares) of the estate is managed with biodiversity as the primary objective.

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 the aggregate economic value of its 445,000ha of forest estate.[8]

References

External links

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