Agricultural land held by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) should be used for afforestation. This is according to Fianna Fáil spokesperson on agriculture, Éamon Ó Cuív TD.
Speaking at the National Ploughing Championships this morning, Deputy Ó Cuív called for the State forestry company Coillte to be reformed in its launch of a discussion paper on the future of Coillte.
“We know there is significant agricultural land in Nama. Land that was never used for the purpose it was bought because of development in terms of building contruction. We believe Nama should look at transferring that land to Coillte and to get the State company to plant. Coillte has the knowledge to do major planting.”
According to Nama’s annual report for 2012 released in June, up to 25 per cent of all land managed by the agency falls into the categories of agricultural land or development land, where work has not yet commenced it said.
Image Shutterstock