Minister appoints Daniel Sheils to Coillte board for five-year term

The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for Forestry, Farm Safety and Horticulture, Niall Collins TD, has appointed Daniel Sheils to serve as a Director on the Board of Coillte. The appointment was made in accordance with the provisions of the Forestry Act 1988 and takes effect from 9 September 2026, with the term expiring on 8 September 2031. It is published in Iris Oifigiúil No. 75 of 18 September 2026, under the heading “Notice of Appointments to the Board of Coillte CGA”.

The notice is issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the department that holds the forestry portfolio and from which the appointment originates. The same edition of the official gazette carries a parallel instrument from the same department: S.I. No. 476 of 2026, the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001 (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2026, made by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and dated 9 September 2026 — the same date on which the Coillte appointment takes effect.

The appointment in detail

The notice sets out the appointment in a single tabulated entry, identifying the appointee, the effective date and the duration of the mandate:

• Name: Mr Daniel Sheils
• Position: Director on the Board of Coillte
• Appointing authority: Minister of State Niall Collins TD
• Legal basis: Forestry Act 1988
• Date of appointment: 09 September 2026
• Term of appointment: expires on 08 September 2031

Who makes the decision

The appointment is made by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for Forestry, Farm Safety and Horticulture, acting under the Forestry Act 1988. The notice states expressly that the appointment was made “in accordance with the provisions of the Forestry Act 1988”, placing the decision within the statutory framework that governs appointments to the board of the State forestry body.

The notice is headed “Notice of Appointments to the Board of Coillte CGA” and is carried in the appointments and statutory notices section of the gazette, alongside other instruments of the same edition, including S.I. No. 474 of 2026 (Medical Council (Registration) (Amendment) Rules 2026), S.I. No. 475 of 2026 (Employment Regulation Order (Security Industry Joint Labour Committee) 2026) and S.I. No. 477 of 2026 (Gambling (Opening Hours and Use of Premises) Regulations 2026).

A five-year mandate to 2031

The term runs for five years, from 9 September 2026 to 8 September 2031, as recorded in the “Term of appointment” column of the notice. The appointment therefore extends beyond the current year and fixes the composition of the Coillte board on a multi-year horizon.

The gazette gives no further detail on the appointee’s background, the vacancy filled or any other board changes; the notice is limited to the name, the date of appointment and the expiry date of the term.

Relevance

The decision adds a director to the board of Coillte for a five-year period, at a time when forestry, land use and the management of the State’s forest estate remain live policy questions. Because the appointment is made under the Forestry Act 1988 and published in Iris Oifigiúil, it is a formal, publicly recorded change to the governance of the State forestry body, with effect from 9 September 2026 and lasting until 8 September 2031.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, No. 75, 18 September 2026, Notice of Appointments to the Board of Coillte CGA (official reference: [G-3]).