The Environmental Pillar of social partnership has called on Fine Gael and Labour to restate their commitment to the continued public ownership of Coillte. This follows Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin’s indications that he would not delay in moving on the sale of state assets identified in the recent McCarthy Report.

Speaking on behalf of the Environmental Pillar, Andrew St Ledger, of the Center for Environmental Living and Training (CELT), comments: “Ireland cannot afford to lose its 1.1 million acres public forest estate in these difficult times. The cash generated from the sale of Coillte will be a meagre drop in the ocean of debt that Ireland owes, and it makes no sense to sell an asset that managed differently can potentially earn the State a sustainable income in the long run, to help pay off its debts.”

Andrew St Ledger, one of the co-authors of the Environmental Pillar’s Treecover Policy, claims that “the current forestry model has been very one-dimensional and therefore very restrictive. The Environmental Pillar believes that there is an opportunity to create a new forestry model which is multi-dimensional and will lead to increased rural development by harnessing the EU Rural Development funding that exists to develop such a sustainable treecover/forestry plan.”

The policy calls for the continued public ownership of State forestry. The potential for sustainable forestry is examined, with recommendations that a viable industry with long-term employment opportunities could be established within five to ten years.

In April 2009, Minister for the Environment John Gormley announced the inclusion of environmental groups as part of the Social Partnership process to “ensure that economic decisions have at their very core the concept of sustainability.” The Environmental Pillar has twenty-seven member groups.

The Environmental Pillar, which is made up of 27 national environmental groups, has asked the incoming government to ensure that it protects the fundamental needs of our society and economy by protecting and enhancing the natural environment. In a detailed submission to the Fine Gael and Labour Parties, the Environmental Pillar outlined what is needed to be done in order to set Ireland on the road to sustainable future.

Amongst a wide range of strong recommendations the submission calls for: the implementation and enforcement of all European Directives on the Environment, including the cessation of turf-cutting on protected peatlands; the retention of Coillte in state ownership, coupled with an overhaul of the Forestry Acts; an end to motorway building; the immediate introduction of Climate Change legislation; an amendment to the Constitution providing for the Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment; and the ratification of the Aarhus Convention.

Speaking on behalf of the Environmental Pillar, Joanne Pender of the Irish Wildlife Trust states: “Almost every family is affected right now by unemployment, loss of earnings or loss of hard earned savings, and as a consequence the economy is going to be in the forefront of their considerations. However, the long term sustainability of employment and a thriving society depends completely on having a healthy environment. Our society, and the economic systems that we have created, is entirely dependent on the fundamental resources of healthy soils, clean water and air, a stable climate, and a healthy diversity of life. Without these services provided by nature, the elaborate social structures and economic systems that we have created cannot function.”