Carol Nolan demands urgent intervention over Midlands job losses

I would be more than happy to receive any written responses to questions if there is insufficient time. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. As we know it is very significant and concerning for many Midland counties, including County Offaly, where we wait for the job losses to occur at the end of this year. It is not a good prospect, particularly in light of the fact that we are currently in the middle of a pandemic and it is already difficult for many communities. And to add to that now in the Midlands, we have the job losses coming as well. I want to start by acknowledging and welcoming the publication of the first interim report of the Just Transition Commissioner. I feel that there is much to welcome in this report, not least the sense of urgency that has been brought to it in the attempts to ensure that a genuinely just and fair transition takes place. And that has been one of the key challenges with this whole entire process, Minister, along with the sense of contradiction that has emerged. Because while the whole of government approach at present is about de-escalating the flood of job losses across this state that has arisen in the last few months, the very opposite appears to be happening in the Midlands. The whole transition process was due to be drawn out until 2030 and people accepted that and were adapting accordingly. But now it is down to a mere 12 months if we are lucky. The Commission himself noted this in his report. There he spoke about the perception that no account was taken of the long term impact on workers, their families and the communities, and reasonable and legitimate expectation that they had that the use of peat as a fuel in these plants would be phased out by 2030. It was also noted that management and unions, primarily in Bordnemona, have now less than 12 months to adjust rapidly to this new reality, and to scale, map and insofar as possible present a clear pathway for continued employment, reskilling, redeployment, retirement and voluntary redundancy. Minister, just in relation to the voluntary redundancy situation, there are still a substantial number of Bordnemona workers left in limbo. It is totally unfair. They are not receiving communications from Bordnemona. I just feel, Minister, that there needs to be some level of intervention out of fairness for the workers in that regard. I would ask you if it is possible for you to please intervene urgently. The Commissioner accepts that there are many formidable challenges in relation to the just transition. My key concern is that all of these challenges around employment retention in the Midlands, and in Offaly in particular, were already acute and severe before the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. Now we have a report and the outlines of a pathway forward, but within a radically changed and uncertain climate, economic climate. What assurances, Minister, can you give me that the already limited and modest financial requests put forward by the Commissioner will be honoured, and more importantly, implemented urgently? Will such commitments transcend the lifetime of this Government, or will we be back here again in a few months' time, with the Green Party insisting that the transition process needs to be speeded up further? Minister, I have one final statement and question. Within the Climate Action Fund under Project Ireland 2040, there is a commitment of €500 million for the allocation from 2019 to 2027, to support initiatives that contribute to a low-carbon climate resilient future. The first call allocated funding up to €77 million across seven projects, and was expected to leverage some €300 million in total investments. Has that expectation of €300 million of investments been realised? For the second stage of the Fund, a call for expressions of interest was launched earlier this year, with 190 expressions received by your Department, when the call for applications closed in March. Can you please provide me with details of how many applications have come specifically from Midland Counties? Where are these investments actually taking place, and are they creating any jobs? First of all, to thank the Deputy for her recognition of the work of the Just Transition Commissioner. I think it is very, very valuable. As I indicated, when the Government considered that report, we have implemented some immediate proposals, including the €11 million fund, which is now open for allocation of funds. We have the €31 million being rolled out that was agreed in the budget in the Midlands. Some of that work, like retrofitting, is held up by COVID-19. As I indicated to Deputy Nocton, we will consider ways of funding accelerated rehabilitation of bogs, and we will look at all possible sources of funding. I don't know whether those expressions of interest are, if you like, yet in the public domain. I'll just check that, but if they are in the public domain, I'll make them available to you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.