"Forestry was sold to landowners in the 1990s as a 'tax-free pension top-up'. But Storm Éowyn slashed the value of many of those plantations, and now the planters - or their heirs - are tied to a lifetime of work in a high-risk business they are legally barred from leaving"
"In the 1990s, Coillte's call to "plant your pension now" helped define how a generation of Irish farmers came to view forestry. Farmers at the time were promised a "tax-free pension top-up" with projected returns of 12.5pc per annum, outperforming almost any other land use on the island at the time."
Forestry was sold to landowners in the 1990s as a tax-free pension top-up. Farmers were promised projected returns of 12.5% per annum, presented as outperforming other land uses. Storm Éowyn later slashed the value of many plantations. Planters, or their heirs, became tied to a lifetime of work in a high-risk business. Legal restrictions prevent them from leaving the arrangement, creating long-term dependence despite the reduced plantation value.
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