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 | 928 |
| 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 1,000 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.
In 20 years of operation between 1989 and 2009, Coillte had:
- Increased its forest estate from 376,000ha to 495,421 ha. (485,315 ha are forested)
- Increased profits from a loss of €438K to profits of €60.5 million (2014)[4]
- Grown turnover from €38 million to €298 million (2009)
- Increased roundwood sales from 0.5 million cubic metres to 2.5 million cubic metres.
According to the Coillte website, 15% (88,000 hectares) of the estate is managed with biodiversity as the primary objective.
Future
In 2011, there was speculation that Coillte could be sold by the Government of Ireland as part of cost-cutting measures.[5][6][7]
As of 2011, Coillte was 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.ie. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- ↑ "Coillte announces 46% growth in operating profit to €60.5m". Coillte. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
- ↑ "Bertie Ahern trip to China for forestry fund". Archived from the original on 16 January 2011. 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 he Coillte Forest Estate". Retrieved 9 Feb 2011.