As I wrote in a previous post, the stench emanating from the State forestry company, Coillte Teoranta, is overwhelming.
In yesterday’s Sunday Independent we learn the following;
Despite making profits of over €200 million since it was set up in 1989 the company has steadfastly refused to hand over a single penny to the State.
State officials have been asking the company nicely for the past eight years to pay at least some of its profits back to the taxpayer. On each occasion the officials have been told to take a hike – and they have.
The company is 100% owned by the taxpayer but is run as a private company on behalf of the State.
The company has a dismal business strategy record and has been heavily criticised for its poor environmental policies. The company illegally obtained EU grants over a five year period. Nobody was made accountable for this fraud and the taxpayer was forced to repay the grants.
Despite this, senior management have awarded themselves performance bonuses of between €200,000 and €400,000 each year since the company was set up.
The company owns seven per cent of the country. This has to be said again – seven per cent of the country but is apparently permitted to do as it pleases.
No further comment required.