Coillte denies its EU grants are in danger

IRELAND'S crucial EU grant aid for the forestry sector is not in any way endangered because of poor forest maintenance, the State owned forestry company said yesterday.

Responding to an Oireachtas committee report on Coillte which warned that funding could be withdrawn from 1999, the company cited what had been achieved since it was established in 1989.

The level of planting per hectare - a key factor in grant allocation - was considerably higher than pre 1989, while maintenance had become more focused and cost effective, according to Mr Michael Carey, general manager of Coillte forests. He said the company was spending up to £9 million a year on maintenance, including £1 million on fire protection.

He rejected the claim by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on State Sponsored Bodies that, Coillte was overdependent on one species, Sitka spruce.

"We make no apologies. Sitka spruce is ideally suited to in Irish conditions and is environmentally acceptable. It was proving to be an excellent"

timber both in terms of its qualities and what industry wanted, and was not disease prone. Nonetheless, 5 per cent of Coillte's forests are broadleafed and it plans to reduce Sitka cover from 79 to 70 per cent of its forests. This would be carefully done on a scientific basis.

The target of doubling tree cover to 16 per cent of the landscape over 35 years was low in European terms, and Irish forests were very fragmented.