Over €200m will be invested into the Irish forestry sector, it was announced on Friday.

A joint investment company is to be established by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and the Finnish-based private equity firm Dasos Capital, which will invest €200m in the project.

The ISIF will provide €100m and the EIB €28.5m for this scheme.

The project will see 18,000ha of land acquired, with plans to build on existing plantations, and will include both rented and purchased land.

Farmers at the centre

European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan said farmers were at the centre the investment plan.

The acquisition of land is a “matter for the company to negotiate with the farmer, but the farmer will decide and they’ll have to be incentivised to do so,” he added.

Existing practices range from contracts under which landowners sign off their timber agreement and harvesting rights to forestry companies, to outright land purchases.

However, Commissioner Hogan said there were various models available for this project: “There could be short term-contracts or long-term contracts depending on what the farmer wants.”

Minister of State Andrew Doyle said acquisition was a sensitive issue and that it is important to be “community sensitive, so everybody feels that this is for them.”

“We don’t want to see people being bought out in a way that isolate people.”

Further funding

Dr Olli Haltia, chief executive officer of Dasos, said: “The fund intends to help overcome diverse challenges faced by a fragmented industry and revitalise forestry in rural communities.”

He also added that the project intends to develop a culture of co-operation between landowners.

It was also confirmed on Friday that further funding for agriculture will be allocated in the coming months.

Commissioner Hogan said all sectors were being considered: “We are looking at all sectors in terms of how we can develop new financial products.”

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