A merger of Bord na Mona and Coillte would leave the state forestry company as a small and relatively weak voice within a much larger company focused heavily on energy production, IMPACT has said.

The union fears that a rebalancing of company priorities following a merger would likely divert wood to energy usage rather than maintaining its most economically-advantageous use. This would seriously weaken Coillte’s economic base with consequences for its ability to sustain its social and environmental functions, including access to state forests for recreation and tourism.

In a paper called Coillte: The way forward, IMPACT’s Coillte Branch outlines fears that a merged company would divert substantial amounts of high-grade timber to energy generation, with significant adverse effects on Coillte’s forestry, environmental and social operations.

IMPACT national secretary Matt Staunton said: “If Coillte activity is rebalanced in this way, the economic return from the public forest will be weakened. The social and environmental benefits will then diminish because they are sustained by the economic return from forestry operations. Irish forest output should generate the highest possible value economically, environmentally and socially.”

IMPACT’s Coillte Branch has successfully campaigned against the sale of Coillte forest harvesting rights. It’s publication Save Our Forests set out the economic, environmental and social benefits provided by the company. It also commissioned an economic assessment of the proposal by economist Peter Bacon, which concluded that a sale of Coillte harvesting rights was not justifiable on economic grounds and would cost the State €1.3 billion.