Coillte Forestry has been accused of "cheating" farmers out of tens of thousands of euros in its Farm Partnership Scheme.

Sinn Fein MEP Matt Carthy said the State owned forestry firm's partnerships does not guarantee a fair return for farmers.

An investigation conducted by That's Farming revealed that Coillte is cheating farmers out of tens of thousands of euros of what should rightfully be owed to them under the terms of the partnership.

He said: "The fact that income derived from thinnings have been excluded from the contracts farmers signed shows that there was no effort made to compensate for the significantly weaker bargaining position of farmers entering into these contracts.

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"Thinning not only has the potential to increase the value of final crop trees by up to 12% due to increasing average tree sizes, but the process itself can create an immediate periodic cash returns for farmers.

"The renewal of this scheme over the summer repeated this policy of not paying farmers anything from monies obtained from thinning, even though the amount could raise to the thousands.

"The structuring of a Government scheme in this way is clearly an injustice to farmers.

"The Government must understand that once a farmer plants trees on his land, it is very difficult if not impossible to return that land to another farming use. Farmers have therefore put their trust in this scheme as a way to earn money, and to help the Government meet climate targets. This partnership cannot be exploited.

"Schemes like this must be run fairly or farmers will be forced to simply sell land."

(CD)