Coillte
 | |
| Statutory Corporation | |
| Industry | Forestry |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Newtownmountkennedy, Ireland |
Area served | Ireland |
| Owner | Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Minister for Finance (on behalf of the Irish state) |
Number of employees | 1,100 |
| Divisions | 3 (Coillte Panel Products, Coillte Forest, Coillte Enterprise) |
| Website | Coillte.ie |
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
- ↑ Coillte Website
- ↑ Companies Registration Office records, number 138108
- ↑ Coillte website - About us section
- ↑ Coillte Website History Page
- ↑ "Bertie Ahern trip to China for forestry fund". Retrieved 14 Jan 2011.
- ↑ "Semi-State firms to be assessed". The Irish Times. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 14 Jan 2011.
- ↑ Ruddock, Alan (14 March 2010). "Talks will be a charade if old delusions remain". Irish Independent. Retrieved 14 Jan 2011.
- ↑ "Evaluation of the Public Goods Value on the Coillte Forest Estate". Retrieved 9 Feb 2011.