A British investment fund could buy upwards of 123,000 acres of rural Ireland as part of a deal to help Coillte meet its climate targets.

The State's forestry agency is aiming to plant around 247,000 acres of new forests by 2050, an area larger than Co. Dublin.

Half of that land will be purchased through a not-for-profit vehicle, with the remaining 123,000 acres coming through a partnership with an investment company.

The Gresham House fund is believed to be behind that partnership, which would see it purchase a portion of Irish agricultural land equivalent to the size of over 1,500 average farms or 50,000 football pitches. There are fears the plans will see the average price of an acre of land for forestry rise from €5,000 to €9,000.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue is to meet with Coillte amid concerns that the plans will see farmers priced out of buying land.

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Speaking about the situation, Minister McConalogue said: "I will be engaging further with Coillte and with Minister [Pippa] Hackett in how we can support them to do their work in relation to managing the forests we have and also looking to expand further.

"Coillte is looking to do what it did very well in the past in terms of actually doing some afforestation as well as doing some management, [which] is important."

Pressed on whether he was comfortable with Coillte's plans to potentially compete with farmers for land, the minister said: "I'll be engaging further with them in terms of what their plans are and how we as a state can support them in those plans."

However, it is understood that Mr McConalogue will make clear his concerns that Coillte, and its commercial partners, will be effectively pricing farmers out of the market in parts of the country.

It is understood that the plans by Coillte shocked senior members of Government when they were raised in the Oireachtas. Senior officials from Coillte confirmed to the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee last month that it would need access to capital from the private sector to be able to meet their 2050 green target.

The plans would boost climate goals, by capturing 28 million tonnes of carbon from the environment over the next 30 years. They will also produce 25 million cubic meters of timber, which will be used in construction.

Coillte confirmed that it was now at an 'advanced stage' of engagement with a commercial company for the firm to be able to buy the woodland. It would not confirm to the Agriculture Committee the name of the company, though it is believed to be Gresham House.

Both Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice and People Before Profit/Solidarity TD Richard Boyd Barrett have named Gresham House in the Dáil as the company Coillte is in negotiations with. Gresham House was contacted a number of times, but did not respond to requests for comment.

In England the company owns 44 forests encompassing a total area of 15,397 hectares (38,047 acres) of freehold UK land. Its largest shareholders include a pension fund for local government employees in Berkshire, and Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, a 'leading independent wealth manager' in the UK.

It says that it manages €3.9bn of client assets in the UK, Europe and Australasia, making it "one of the largest global forestry asset managers by value", and the largest in Britain.

A review of Gresham House's own interim accounts shows that it has established "an Irish fund for... attracting a key Irish investor base to underpin growth and access to the Irish forestry market". Company records show a firm called the Gresham House Forestry General Partnership (Ireland) Limited was established in April of last year. The company has also joined the Irish Association of Investment Managers, a lobbying vehicle which is headed up by former Fine Gael minister Michael D'Arcy.

Speaking at the Agriculture Committee last month, Mr Fitzmaurice warned that farmers could be competing with Coillte for "one in every three acres in marginal areas".

The average price of an acre of land that would be used for forestry is around €5,000 to €6,000.

There are fears that this could increase to €8,000 to €9,000 if Coillte's plans to work with an investment fund come to fruition.

Mark Carlin, the managing director at Coillte, told the Agriculture Committee last month: "The only way Coillte can get back into delivering the afforestation goals of the country and assisting in that is by drawing on third-party capital because the level of expenditure is extraordinary, at over €2bn.'

A spokeswoman for the semi-State body said: "Ireland needs to urgently ramp up its rate of afforestation and it needs to be done at scale in order to reach our Climate Action Targets.

"Given the importance to urgently increase the current rate of afforestation, farmers, private forestry companies and Coillte will all have a role to play.

"Farmers, as the biggest landowners in the country, will have an opportunity to play the most significant role in the creation of new forests."

But the plans have been met with opposition from politicians of different backgrounds. Mr Fitzmaurice, TD for Galway-Roscommon, warned in December: "The big word a few months ago was that 100,000 hectares is going to be planted in the next 30 years by the private entity. Is the Government proud of that?"

Far-left TD Mr Boyd Barrett and Green TD Neasa Hourigan have also voiced concerns. Ms Hourigan said it would be "ironic" that a British company would again "own chunks of our forests".

The spokeswoman for Coillte said the semi-State body had "made it clear" that it has been in discussions with a number of parties in relation to how best to advance much-needed afforestation. "However, we are not in a position to respond to speculation at this stage," she added