Coillte Teoranta was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act 1988 and day-to-day operational matters are the responsibility of the company. The allocation of shooting rights is a matter of an operational nature for Coillte.
I understand that Coillte now allocates game bird shooting rights over Coillte lands through a competitive tendering process that is open to gun clubs and other interested parties. Competitive tendering for all lettings was introduced in 2005 and the first tender competitions were held in May and June. With regard to the case specified by the Deputy, the bid submitted by the party mentioned was not accepted as a higher bid had been received from another party.