Coillte Teoranta, the State forestry company, has described as "much ado about nothing" claims that its annual general meeting, and the Oireachtas, were misled over a European Court case.
Dublin's Green Party MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, said the company had "serious questions to answer" about its failure to mention that the European Court of First Instance had dismissed its case, for the restoration of £6.5 million a month in EU aid, before the a.g.m. in May.
Coillte's case was taken shortly after the European Commission ruled that it was not entitled, as a "public authority", to receive EU grants aimed at helping farmers involved in afforestation projects. The case was dismissed as "manifestly unreasonable" on April 25th.
Ms McKenna accused Coillte's chairman, Mr Ray McSharry, of "misleading shareholders" by stating in the annual report that Coillte had "commenced proceedings before the European Court of First Instance in view of the direct effect of the EU decision on the company".
She said this was "quite outrageous" in view of Coillte's recent pledge that it would be more accountable and transparent. "How can it be trusted when it keeps on acting behind closed doors and continually rebuffs any kind of constructive and justified criticisms?" she asked.
The dismissal of its court case had "major financial implications" for the company, she said. "I would certainly propose that the lands that have been bought by Coillte from farmers to plant some fast-growing coniferous species be returned to their original owners", Ms McKenna said.
But Coillte's spokesman, Mr Gerry Egan, described her claim as "nonsense", saying that the substantive issue of Colllte's entitlement to EU aid for afforestation had yet to be determined by the European Court in a separate case taken by Ireland against the EU Commission.
He said this case was unlikely to be heard until the second quarter of next year. All that had happened in April was that the European Court had dismissed an action taken by Coillte, as an interested party, on the basis that it had no standing in the wider legal context.
Dealing specifically with the issue of whether the company's a.g.m. had been misled, Mr Egan explained that its annual report had been circulated three weeks in advance - before its solicitors had notified Coillte's management on May 8th that the legal action had been dismissed.
He said the company's board was "fully informed" about the outcome and the only reason it had not been mentioned at the a.g.m. was that nobody had raised it. In any case, the European Court had yet to hear the substantive case taken by Ireland on the forestry grants issue.
