WATCH: 'You lost a forest' Funny moment as Department of Agriculture forgot about a forest it owns

A bizarre news story today coming out of the Committee of Public Accounts that was held at the Dáil.

In a strange turn of events, it turns out that the Department of Agriculture had forgotten about a forest that it owns in County Laois.

As Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh so eloquently puts to Brendan Gleeson, Security General of the Department, he said, "You lost a forest." adding to his first comment "When I read this chapter my jaw dropped." The pair then look at each other in silence as the member of the Department just holds his hands up like something straight out of a comedy film.

Looking at the report for the meeting, at 10.11 it seems as though the plot of land is one in Durrow, County Laois.

The extract from the report reads:

"A sample of 14 buildings and land plots located on 12 sites was selected from the Department’s listing for examination visits. The examination team found that for one of the selected sites, listed as a forest plot on the Department’s asset register as being in Durrow, Co. Laois, the Department was unable to provide location details. It was not clear whether this was a previously-owned plot that should have been removed from the asset register, or whether a site was ever owned at that location. The Department has since removed this from its asset register."

You can see the full video that was posted to Twitter below this article, and the original posters Twitter account is linked HERE.

Over to PAC, where the Department of Agriculture has … [checks notes] forgotten about a forest it owns in Co Wicklow. pic.twitter.com/jsGRm3ZDAx

— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) July 11, 2024