Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 September 2014
234. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views that the retention of €4.3 million of EU funding by Coillte is not in breach of EU state aid or EU competition rules; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35360/14]
View answerIt should be noted that the payments in question to Coillte were made in good faith and all involved acted on the basis that Coillte was entitled to this money in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) 2080/92. However, in compliance with the decision of the EU Commission, as upheld by the Court of Justice, the EU element of the premium payments paid to Coillte by the Department was reimbursed to the EU.
The State Aid issue has been carefully considered. The advice received is that to constitute a State Aid, the aid paid out has to disrupt the market. The money received by Coillte in this instance, is not considered to constitute a State Aid, due to the fact that private firms in the same market were at all times entitled to seek and receive forestry premiums. There was no question of other third parties, being prevented from seeking and receiving aid, which would be a distortion of the market. It should also be noted that the ongoing loss of the forestry premium income, formerly received by Coillte, places it in a less advantageous position, compared to any of its competitors as far as State Aid issues go.
