Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 15 Apr 2015

Vol. 874 No. 1

Topical Issue Debate

Wild Atlantic Way Project

Deputy John Deasy

This is an issue that has been discussed actively within Fáilte Ireland and the Department for some time. Over the last nine months we have discussed the facilitation of a presentation to be given by Waterford council and the people dealing with tourism in Waterford to expand the Wild Atlantic Way along east Cork and Waterford's Atlantic coastline. Since I met Shaun Quinn, the head of Fáilte Ireland, in July of last year a couple of developments have occurred when it comes specifically to Waterford. The air route from Waterford Airport to London has been restored with flights to Luton beginning on Monday week.

Second, Waterford is at an advanced stage of planning and construction in respect of a range of major tourism related infrastructure projects along the coast, including the greenway from Dungarvan to Waterford. There are similar projects going ahead in east Cork. The timing of any presentation is important. We are probably ready now, more so than six months ago, to give this presentation if accepted. I stress in the House something I have mentioned on a couple of occasions to the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring. We are really only interested in one thing and consider that we can make the case for inclusion in the Wild Atlantic Way based on merit. Adding the Waterford and east Cork coastlines to the Wild Atlantic Way will increase the saleability of the concept, not detract from it. That is the key thing. Before anyone puts up a hand and says we cannot do this as it might dilute the essence of the existing product, we think we can provide different elements to the Wild Atlantic Way that do not currently exist and which will add to the product being marketed as is.

The new tourism initiative unveiled yesterday could be a very useful product. I appreciate the work the Minister of State and his colleagues, including the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, have put into it. If marketed correctly, it is something that could work and which we will try to make successful in Waterford. It will obviously need a budget, which is a matter that will be discussed by the Cabinet. It is fair to say that there remains a strong belief in my county that the Wild Atlantic Way has more potential and is still of greater interest to businesses along our coastline. I am not dismissing in any way Ireland's Ancient East, the product that was announced yesterday, but for us the priority is our coastline and the way it is marketed. That remains the case. The product announced yesterday in no way, shape or form addresses that, which is its nature and that is fine. The focus for us must remain on the extension of the Wild Atlantic Way for that particular reason right now. That is in no way to dismiss the potential for the other product.

It is for me and some others slightly incongruous that when one goes on the Wild Atlantic Way website, the causeway coastal route is advertised. That is slightly unusual when the Waterford and east Cork coastlines are nowhere to be seen. I stress that we are not looking for a handout here. I would not be standing here if I thought the addition of east Cork and Waterford would not benefit tourism numbers for everyone concerned nationally. Obviously, an argument that makes sense to those involved in tourism in west Cork must be made and we are prepared to do that. All we need is an opportunity to make that case to them specifically as well as to others. I look forward to hearing from the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, as to whether our request for a presentation can be accommodated.

Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport (Deputy Michael Ring)

I thank Deputy John Deasy for raising this issue. I am glad to hear him refer to the initiative that was announced yesterday. It is very important for the east and south and I hope the community will buy into it. Deputy John Deasy is quite correct about the success of the Wild Atlantic Way. It has been a great success and as with any great success, people want to be part of it. However, what was announced yesterday can also be a success, but people have to buy into it. We do not need negativity on it, rather we need positivity. The community must buy in, which it has an opportunity now to do. I will respond to the Deputy on his other request after I read my reply into the record.

The role of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in relation to tourism lies primarily in the area of national policy. The development of the Wild Atlantic Way is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland and the Department is not directly involved in its development or management. That said, I can tell the Deputy that the route of the Wild Atlantic Way was developed with the assistance of consultants, the Paul Hogarth Company. A unified approach was taken in which regional steering groups were convened to inform route development. The steering groups included Fáilte Ireland, local authorities, local LEADER and development companies and other key agencies such as Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Western Development Commission and others as relevant to each particular region. The process involved an extensive study of the coast, a review of existing driving routes, the establishment of route selection criteria, an evaluation of various route options, the identification of the route spine and a comprehensive process of stakeholder, community and public consultation. In total, 366 feedback submissions were made containing 862 individual comments. Following this wide-ranging process, I launched the Wild Atlantic Way just over a year ago. It is already proving very popular and will be a great international success.

The Deputy should note that the Wild Atlantic Way is an international tourism proposition for the west coast of Ireland. The project was born out of the need to address the dramatic decline in international visitors to the west of Ireland over the last decade. The route itself is designed to bring scale and singularity to the tourism offering of the west of Ireland in terms of overseas promotion and marketing. The main objective of the Wild Atlantic Way project is to motivate more overseas visitors to visit the west of Ireland, to give them reasons to linger longer in terms of tourism experiences and to encourage them to engage with the landscape and communities along the route. It is about encouraging international visitors to choose the west of Ireland as a holiday destination. The Wild Atlantic Way initiative was never intended to be defined by the extent of Ireland's Atlantic coast, but was broadly to follow the routing of the Malin to Mizen geography and those west coast counties that share a common unifying tourism proposition. As a visitor experience, the Wild Atlantic Way is about experiencing where the land meets the sea and how the sea has shaped and influenced what happens on the land. As the design of the route was about wildness, the overarching principles of the route require a focus on the wild Atlantic. The route is designed to hug the coast wherever possible and avoids dilution of the concept by straying inland.

Given our limited resources, it was not possible to do everything at once. As the Wild Atlantic Way gained momentum, however, we were able to look at tourism propositions that would match the tourism assets in the south and east of the country. What we provide must be distinctive and always match what customers are seeking. Our research has informed us that we need to highlight better the tourism assets we have to match the interests and requirements of the consumers identified in our most promising market segments. For that reason, the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, and I launched this week a new brand proposition that groups the cultural and heritage tourism assets and experiences of Ireland's east and south into a new tourism experience via a network of routes, trails and journeys. Ireland's Ancient East is a customer-oriented tourism initiative for the south, east and midlands majoring on the abundance of cultural and heritage assets to be found in these areas. All of these areas share a common richness in their histories such as Viking Waterford, medieval Kilkenny and the Boyne Valley.

Deputy John Deasy

I thank the Minister of State for his comments and I take his point on positivity not negativity regarding the product announced yesterday. The case I have been making to officials in the past few weeks revolves in large part around the future of Waterford Airport. I spent the last four years bending the ears of officials and politicians with regard to the future of Waterford Airport and continuing its funding until we resecured the London air route. That worked. We managed to keep the funding going long enough for the board to find an airline. We had a couple of close shaves, but we now have a carrier and bookings are very good according to the airport managers I met last week. Over the years, the State has invested tens of millions of euro into the airport through operational and capital funding. Improvements were made to the road to the airport which alone cost in the region of €10 million. It is now critical for the Government to consider the airport's future and not simply to say "Job done". It must now start to connect projects like the Wild Atlantic Way with the airport, which is a piece of infrastructure in which the State has invested heavily and which is critical to our regional economic recovery.

For years, the Government has been repeating that Waterford Airport must become self-sustaining. Extending the Wild Atlantic Way to the east of Waterford is how that can be helped to happen.

I will repeat what I said. We want the opportunity to make this presentation, notwithstanding everything announced yesterday, and hope we will be given it.

Deputy Michael Ring

I will respond to the Deputy in a very positive manner. I will set up that opportunity for him and arrange a meeting with Fáilte Ireland. I will revert to him tomorrow with a date and a time and will attend the meeting. He will have the opportunity to make the presentation to Fáilte Ireland. I see nothing wrong with this.

The Deputy mentioned Waterford Airport and I agree with him. The Government has been pro-tourism and proactive in developing it. We got rid of the travel tax which went from 3% to 0%. The VAT rate was reduced from 13.5% to 9%. We sometimes forget that more than 200,000 people are employed in the industry, in respect of which we announced a new strategy recently. We had 7.5 million visits to the country last year, which brought in €3.5 billion in revenue. We want to bring these figures up to 10 million visits and €5 billion in revenue and increase the number employed in the sector. Sometimes because it is our own industry, an industry within the country, it does not get the credit it deserves for the number of jobs created. Some 16,000 jobs were created last year and many more could be created. Let me give a very simple example. There are three bicycle operators that employ more than 40 people along the Great Western Greenway. Last Tuesday there was not a bike to be had in the area. People were coming to the area, cycling and enjoying their stay. The Wild Atlantic Way has been a tremendous success and a great initiative. More international buyers are coming this year and more people are talking about it. It is going to be another great year in tourism. The figures look good, as does the sentiment.

I have no doubt that what was announced yesterday will be every bit as good, but the communities in the area will have to buy into it, like communities bought into the Wild Atlantic Way in the west, including Donegal, Cork and everywhere else. It is like The Gathering. Communities bought into it, which is why it was a success.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Brian Walsh)

As in the case of the bicycles, there is no time left. The Minister of State was just on the button.

School Completion Programme

Deputy Martin Ferris

In the last few budgets there were cuts to the LINK school completion programme. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will be aware that the service provided under the programme is for the most vulnerable children in the care of schools. It is invaluable for so many young people - young children, in particular - who come from deprived backgrounds, the Travelling community and so forth. The programme should be continued as it allows children aged eight to 15 years an opportunity to complete their education. In some cases, they go on to third level education.

The early school leaving initiative was expanded in 2002 under the school completion programme to include four to 18 year olds. In 2006 the DEIS programme further expanded the school completion programme. The north Kerry school completion programme employs a full-time co-ordinator, two full-time outreach workers and engages the services of third level students to deliver in school, after school, out of school and holiday supports to increase the level of student attendance. The amount of work they have done and the number of children they have saved are very well illustrated in the 2009-14 figures covering a five year school cycle. Some 406 children went through this cycle and the dropout figure was eight. Of these eight students, two were home-schooled, one took up an apprenticeship, two engaged with outreach services, two did nothing, while one left the country. In respect of the 2014 figures, covering a five year period, there were 333 students and the dropout number was 31, two of whom ended up in prison. As a result of the services they had received under the school completion programme, the rest found a meaningful way to contribute to society. Will the Minister continue to fund the programme and assure the House that there will be no cut in the next budget?

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

The school completion programme has been one of the successes in the past few years. Retention rates among students from disadvantaged backgrounds are on the increase all the time, mainly due to the support staff in place. However, it is due not only to the teachers in communities but also the funding put in place. The programme has been directed at communities which traditionally have had high school dropout rates. It interacts not only with students but also includes home visits to parents, engages with students during school breaks and includes a number of after-school programmes. School is made more welcoming for students at risk of dropping out.

An examination of the figures shows that higher educational disadvantage levels and school dropout rates have huge social and economic consequences for communities. The number of children living in poverty is on the increase. Approximately 750,000 children live in poverty. The school completion programme is one of the supports which has been put in place to help students to achieve their educational potential and has been a success to date. However, it can only continue to be a success if funding is put in place and maintained. Schools are working on a year-to-year basis; they do not have multi-annual funding, which has an impact on schools.

I implore the Minister to examine the school completion programme which has been moved to his portfolio. It has been a success and has the potential to keep more students in school and give them the tools they need to achieve their educational potential.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy James Reilly)

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. I can assure them that the Minister of State, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, and Deputy Brendan Griffin do not let the opportunity slip by to remind me about the importance of the school completion programme. I am pleased that everyone agrees that the programme operates very well and has been very successful. All of the statistics support that conclusion.

The school completion programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and improve the school attendance, participation and retention of its target cohort. It is a targeted intervention aimed at school communities identified through the DEIS action plan of the Department of Education and Skills. It involves 124 projects and related initiatives operating in 470 primary and 224 post-primary schools. These projects provide a range of supports and interventions designed to support approximately 36,000 children identified by local management committees as being at risk of educational disadvantage. Typically, projects offer homework clubs, breakfast clubs, mentoring programmes, learning support, social and personal development programmes, out of school supports, including music, art and sports, and a range of activities during school holidays.

Since 1 January 2014, the Child and Family Agency has operational responsibility for the school completion programme, including the allocation of funds to local projects. In 2014 an allocation of €24.756 million was provided for the programme. The agency has indicated a similar allocation for the programme in 2015. It has approved local projects' school retention plans for the 2014-15 academic year. The first two instalments of 2014-15 funding have issued to local projects, with a third instalment planned for May.

The school completion project in the area mentioned by the Deputies comprises three primary and four post-primary schools. I am advised that an amount of €181,959 was allocated by the agency to the project for the school year 2014-15. The amount provided for the 2014-15 period takes account of the savings requirements in the comprehensive review of expenditure 2012-14.

The allocation of funding across the range of interventions planned for young people and between the local schools and the school completion project for the area is a matter for the local management committee.

The Deputies may be aware that a review of the school completion programme by the ESRI is almost complete. The review is an important initiative in planning the programme's future development. It will assist in identifying the reforms necessary to consolidate the programme on a sustainable footing and is being overseen by a steering committee involving officials from the Child and Family Agency, my Department and the Department of Education and Skills. Among other matters, the review will examine the school completion programme's structures and their fitness for purpose to support an integrated approach to addressing early school leaving. It will analyse the interventions provided and make recommendations on evidence-informed supports designed to secure the best educational outcomes for young children. It is envisaged that the review's final report will be delivered shortly.

Recently, the Minister for Education and Skills published an evaluation of Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, which was prepared by the ESRI and referred to the school completion programme as an integral support within DEIS for improving attendance and engagement in education.

I have advised the agency of my commitment to ensuring that there is no diminution of the school completion programme, which is an important element of the agency's educational welfare services. It is highly regarded as a key response in securing improved educational outcomes for young people at risk of early school leaving.

Deputy Martin Ferris

Go raibh maith agat. In particular, the school completion programme provides a service to areas and sectors in society that are less well off, for example, the Traveller community. In north Kerry in my constituency, there are 210 Traveller families. A sizeable number of their children would not be in school were it not for the availability of this programme. It has added benefits for society. For example, after-school services try to help people to keep up with other students. Young people starting out in life are given a great foundation because they can not only compete, but believe that they can compete and be just as good.

The Minister mentioned a figure of €182,000 for the programme in north Kerry. This follows a number of severe cuts in recent years. Is there any possibility of the figure increasing in order to give the programme the added value that is necessary to provide services?

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

I welcome the Minister's comments on his and his Department's commitment to the school completion programme. It is an important element of the agency's educational welfare services. More than anyone else in the Chamber, the Minister is aware that children from poor socioeconomic backgrounds have lower levels of educational attainment. One of the ways to improve this situation is through education itself, for example, programmes like this one that enable children from such backgrounds to stay in school and achieve their educational potential. This is how we will break the cycle. We have come through tough economic times and the Government needed to make difficult decisions, but we are now being told of a slow recovery and green shoots. Although the programmes in question may be small and do not require large amounts of funding, every cent that is spent on any programme that helps to keep children in school and to achieve their educational potential has a knock-on effect further down the line.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Brian Walsh)

I must ask the Deputy to conclude.

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

I hope that the Minister will recognise this fact when drawing up budgets.

Deputy James Reilly

I am pleased that the Deputies across the floor support this programme and understand its value. I do not doubt that the ESRI's report will vindicate that value, although I do not have it as yet. As a republic, what we want is equal opportunity for all of our children and to level the playing pitch for children who are born into socioeconomic disadvantage. I agree with Deputy O'Brien, in that education is a major part of that work. Being able to keep children in school when the odds are stacked against them because of other issues, none of which is of their making, is a job for the Government and a republic that believes in cherishing all our children equally and providing everyone with an equal opportunity. We level the playing field through this programme. It is one that I support strongly.

More generally, the Government set out to do two major things. It promised to fix the economy and to return people to work. The economy is recovering and we have created 90,000 plus new jobs, with more to come. However, these are not ends in themselves. They are measures that we wish to be the basis for having the funds to repair the services that were damaged during the recession and to repair society by offering everyone as good a start as we can. As mentioned during Question Time, the best return on the investment of money and other resources lies in young children. They are our future. They are the most important thing to us.

Small and Medium Enterprises Debt

Deputy Dara Calleary

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and his office for allowing me to raise this issue. The Minister will not be surprised that I am raising it again. Small to medium-sized enterprise, SME, debt, particularly in light of the impending sale of many SME loans to foreign holdings, is the forgotten crisis in Irish banking. There has been an understandable focus on mortgage debt and the buy-to-let sector, but banks that are in some cases exiting the Irish market or reducing their services have in recent months begun selling the loans of many small companies and local businesses throughout the country to outside funds. A number of high-profile large companies have gone to court, incurring significant legal expenses. When loans are sold, businesses find that the protections offered under their original loan agreements are not as robust as they were led to believe or as the Government would lead us to believe.

The lack of consultation and alternative funding is frustrating. In the cases that I have dealt with, the pillar banks of AIB and Bank of Ireland have been willing to put new facilities in place. However, banks that are exiting the market - in the cases I am referencing, Ulster Bank - are pursuing an agenda of getting out of business lending and answering to targets set in another jurisdiction and are not interested in sitting down to deal with borrowers. In the two cases I am dealing with, 50 jobs are in danger in each for want of a fairer banking deal and competitive banking facilities.

The Minister of State, Deputy Nash, committed to having the credit guarantee scheme revised to allow for a provision whereby participating banks in the scheme could fund businesses whose banks were exiting the market. However, Ulster Bank's customers are falling through the cracks even though it participates in the scheme. Where it sells a business loan to a fund, provision is not being made. If the business were a customer of Danske Bank or Bank of Scotland, provision would be made automatically.

The Minister's Department has been under significant pressure due to the Companies Act 2014 and various industrial relations Bills, but it is outstanding that the review of the credit guarantee scheme has not yet been delivered.

Likewise, as we enter the summer term, it is clear that several of the commitments in the legislative programme will not be delivered. In the meantime, only 162 facilities have been agreed under the credit guarantee scheme in the four years since it was established. That is way below where we and the Minister want it to be. The lack of urgency within the Department in addressing this issue is a cause for great concern. While there is political awareness and concern around SME debt, the system does not really understand the problem or the urgency of it.

We need the Minister to press home the message within his Department that this is an urgent issue which will affect employment and the ability of many businesses to gain from whatever recovery is beginning to take hold. There is no longer any opportunity for delay. The figures for 2014 show that 40% of SME debt in the pillar banks was in long-term arrears. In 2013, Fiona Muldoon, then a senior official in the Central Bank, indicated that some 50% of SME debt was impaired. We need action on this issue now. There must be alternatives available to businesses that have managed to trade through very difficult years and now need some type of break to help them to deal with a circumstance for which they are not responsible.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Deputy Richard Bruton)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There is no doubt that the funding difficulties being experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises have been a huge issue right through the period of this Government's term in office. We have introduced a great deal of change in an effort to respond to that. The remit of the Credit Review Office has been repeatedly extended, for example, with the limits increased to try to deal with the problem. The Minister for Finance is introducing protections for these types of loan arrangements to ensure the new owners of credit books adhere to the protections that exist under the consumer protection provisions relating to credit servicing. That will be included in the new legislation the Minister is bringing through the Oireachtas.

The Deputy is correct that we have introduced a draft statutory instrument to extend the credit guarantee to exiting banks. That has gone through drafting and is now in the phase where we are rolling out the agreements with participating banks. That process is nearing completion. This was designed to deal with exiting banks, and Ulster Bank, to which the Deputy referred, is not among those banks. We will have to consider the specific circumstances he highlighted to see whether we need to introduce a new statutory instrument. The legislation is at an advanced stage but is proving to be rather complex because it deals with the State giving guarantees, which has given rise to difficulties we have had to work through.

The Deputy rightly identified that we need to look much more closely at what exactly is happening in the case of the Ulster Bank loans to see whether there is a way of accommodating them, either through a new statutory instrument, which would be necessary to extend the remit of existing provisions, or through an instrument introduced when we have the new primary legislation in place. I assure the Deputy that there is no lack of urgency in respect of this issue either in my Department or on the part of Government. This is an area where we are continuing to respond to changing circumstances in the marketplace and seeking to develop instruments that respond to those changes. The introduction of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland is leading to the introduction of new financial instruments into the marketplace. I assure Deputy Calleary that we will be looking closely at these issues. I thank him for bringing specific instances to our attention, which we will pursue with a view to devising a solution. As he knows, resolving these matters requires more than a stroke of a pen. It involves devising a statutory instrument and rolling it out with the banks, which requires putting the necessary legal agreements in place to allow the banks to operate it.

Deputy Dara Calleary

I thank the Minister for his reply. The specific problem here is in respect of Ulster Bank. When he discussed the matter with Ulster Bank, it put him in touch with the Royal Bank of Scotland. The latter's argument was that it is under the control of Her Majesty's Treasury and must meet the targets that are set for it in terms of its restructuring. Given that the Minister is reviewing the situation and he accepts we have a specific problem here, could contact be made, at ministerial or official level, outlining that there are specific solutions being devised in Ireland, through the credit guarantee scheme, and asking Ulster Bank to suspend its programme of selling loans, particularly for very small businesses that cannot afford the lawyer's services that are necessary to defend their case?

The Minister referred to consumer protection. There is some protection in place but where we are talking about impaired loans, many of those protections are invalid. An agreement has been made with the Irish banks whereby once a loan is sold, if the business is worth taking apart then the fund will take it apart with no regard for employment or the history and future potential of the business. Given that the Minister recognises there is a specific problem and a particular shortfall in terms of the Department's response, will he consider making an approach to Ulster Bank asking it to suspend its programme? That would have the additional effect of injecting urgency into the rolling out of the legislation.

Deputy Richard Bruton

We need to have all the facts before we decide on a course of action. It is not true to say protections are worthless where the loans in question are impaired. In fact, there continue to be procedures and protections in place where loans are impaired. I take the Deputy's point, however, and we will look at the situation fully to see what is the best way in which to find a resolution. I will not make any commitments without having the advantage of a proper assessment. I assure the Deputy that we will continue to work on this and I will respond to him either privately or publicly.

Employment Rights

Deputy Michael Lowry

I welcome the opportunity to raise this issue of paramount importance to the 80 permanent staff at the Bord na Móna briquette plant at Littleton and the bog production area at Templetuohy. Littleton is located in the heart of County Tipperary and has always been closely associated with Bord na Móna and the briquette factory. The factory has been part of the community since it opened in 1981 and has proved to be the lifeblood of the local rural economy, providing quality employment and invaluable community support and delivering a degree of job security in an area that is otherwise devoid of industry.

Sadly, after 35 years of providing a steady income for countless families, staff were informed last week that Littleton's production facility is to close from 29 April until the middle of August, with a roster providing for a skeleton staff over a 14-week period. This means workers will face a minimum of eight weeks being laid off. Moreover, staff have been informed that two-day working weeks may be enforced. They were told these measures are being undertaken as a cost-saving exercise. These savage cuts to pay and conditions will have a devastating impact on the income of permanent staff and consign them to financial hardship.

There are no conceivable grounds for such drastic action by Bord na Móna. The company is profitable, making a profit of €50 million on its peat-production activity last year and an anticipated profit of €40 million in 2015. The Littleton plant itself is also doing well, with an estimated profit last year of approximately €3 million. We have a situation where a profitable company is treating its workforce in a despicable way and transferring some of the costs of its employment obligations onto the Exchequer through the Department of Social Protection.

I commend the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, on his recent announcement, to much fanfare, of a Government rural investment initiative to maximise employment and revitalise local economies. However, in the context of what is happening at Bord na Móna in Littleton, the Minister's statements in this regard are ridiculous, meaningless and hollow.

If the Government is serious about supporting rural industry, it must move immediately to assist Bord na Móna to protect its employees by addressing, first, the issue of carbon tax and, second, the ESB's public service obligation on financial subsidies.

I ask the Government to tell Bord na Móna management that its slash and burn approach will lead to human carnage and actions that are unacceptable. The Government must insist that Bord na Móna changes direction and involves itself in meaningful negotiations with the group of unions to find a different approach and reach agreement on contentious issues.

Deputy Noel Coonan

I am glad to have this opportunity to speak on this matter and I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting it. As Deputy Lowry said, it is a hugely important issue in the locality. When it is combined with the effect of the closure of the Lisheen Mine with a possible loss of jobs for 400 people, we are talking about 500 people in the area losing their jobs. It is a huge blow to the area. I call on the Minister of State present along with his colleagues, the Minister with responsibility for energy and the Minister with responsibility for employment to take a hands-on approach to this matter and to speak directly to the company, which is heavily subsidised with taxpayers' money and also by the ESB, to ensure the future of the briquette factory in Littleton.

We have been told that part of the reason for this decision is due to the stockpile of briquettes that are in the country. Even though this is not directly in the Minister of State's remit, he has responsibility for European affairs and the carbon tax is an issue in that context. We are being flooded with coal imported from the North which is not subject to carbon tax. It is estimated that the carbon tax has added 50 cent to a bale of briquettes. In this context, we are talking about fair trade and equal opportunity for all. I ask the Minister of State to take up this issue to ensure that people in rural Ireland are not being penalised.

The briquette factory in Croghan, near Edenderry, closed in the 1990s. We were then left with two factories. We wish to safeguard these, particularly the factory in Littleton, which is creating meaningful employment in the area. We want to ensure its viability into the future.

What action is the Minister of State and the Government going to take to preserve the jobs in the briquette factory in Littleton, County Tipperary? Are they going to have a meaningful hands-on working relationship with Bord na Móna whereby they will call in the management and ask it about the way it is treating the workers who have given genuine service for many years? The workers were told there was no employment for them for approximately four to five months in the height of summer. They were told they would be deployed to other maintenance jobs or to upgrading the factory but either way, everybody who is in employment in Littleton will be affected by this. I call on the Minister of State to press the Government takes adequate action to ensure the immediate viability of these jobs and the security, safety and guarantee of those jobs into the future.

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Dara Murphy)

I thank Deputies Lowry and Coonan for raising this very important matter of great concern for the people involved. As they will be aware, Bord na Móna is facing significant business challenges in the context of the deregulation of the electricity market and increasingly competitive and challenging environments across all its business areas. In order to ensure its continued success, the company is implementing a programme to transform all areas of its operations and structure, the key objective of which is to improve business effectiveness and efficiency.

The specific matter raised by both Deputies in regard to terms and conditions of employment is an operational matter for the company and not one in which the Minister, Deputy White, has any role or function. He passes on his apologies for not being here. Furthermore, taxation policy, including the carbon tax, its implementation and impact, is a matter for the Minister for Finance and not one in which the Minister has any function.

However, I understand that the Minister, Deputy White, has raised the wider issue in regard to peat production with Bord na Móna and has been advised that the temporary cessation of peat briquette production is confined to the two factories at Littleton, County Tipperary and Derrinlough, County Offaly. Both factories are peat-based manufacturing plants, producing Bord na Móna peat briquettes and run on a 24-7 basis during production. Each year, based on sales requirements, Bord na Móna implements a specific production plan for each of its factories. The plan normally includes periods where production ceases, there is maintenance overhaul and where there is annual leave, including a break in production over the Christmas period without, normally, loss to employees. I understand, however, that as a result of very mild weather in recent months, competitiveness challenges, a high private timber and sod turf supply and falling prices for home heating oil, the opportunity for the company to sell its current stocks is unfortunately very challenged this year.

As the Deputies will be aware, in December last, affected employees were informed of the seriousness of the stock situation at the factories and production temporarily ceased over the Christmas holiday period. While production recommenced in early January, it became apparent by early February that stocks were again building up due to continuing lower sales levels. Formal communications took place with staff and union representatives in February and the company advised that production at both plants would cease at the end of March until early September. It was further agreed that plans were to be prepared for each factory to manage the shut-down in the most efficient manner possible.

The company is running the normal maintenance overhaul at both plants during April and no employees are laid off. Following this, holiday leave will be scheduled. Thereafter, I understand that unfortunately it will be necessary to lay off a number of staff in June and July. Management is actively considering all options to mitigate the impact on directly affected workers through redeployment of people to security duties, bog operations, other areas of the company or outside contract work as well.

At all stages staff and union representatives have been kept informed of the situation. The restart of briquette production is scheduled for 10 September next. In the meantime the company is actively reviewing new product development opportunities and engaging with local management and staff on trying to grow new markets for peat products.

The Minister is aware of the seriousness of the situation and would encourage management and staff to work together in managing this very difficult period ahead while looking forward to the restart of production at the earliest possible date.

Deputy Michael Lowry

There are two things the Government can do and for which it can take responsibility. The first is the fact that, as the Minister of State said, Bord na Móna is no longer competitive. The reason its products such as briquettes and peatland products are no longer competitive is that they are subject to the carbon tax. That tax was introduced in budget 2010. Following discussions with the then Government I secured an exemption for peat products. That exemption was lifted in the budget of 2013 when the Government imposed the tax at €10 per tonne. It doubled the tax in the 2014 budget to €20 per tonne. Effectively, a bale of briquettes has a carbon tax levy of 56 cent. It makes those products uncompetitive compared to Northern Ireland, where coal and briquettes are not subject to a carbon tax. As Deputy Coonan said, coal is being imported at low prices with which our Bord na Móna products cannot compete. The Government can move on that and it can also move on the public service obligation that the ESB has, which is denying Bord na Móna €23 million per annum.

Deputy Noel Coonan

I am disappointed with the Minister of State's response in that he said this is a matter for the Minister for Finance and not the Minister. That is poor consolation to workers who will be unemployed for three months during the summer. This is the reason I call for a co-ordinated approach by the Government, including the Minister for Finance, the Minister with responsibility for energy, the Minister with responsibility for employment and the Minister of State present, to ensure there is fair competition when we are competing with the North and being flooded with material from the North that is not subject to a carbon tax. I ask the Minister of State to take a hands-on approach to try to resolve this problem.

It is a question of the cost of production which the Government is certainly in a position to address with Bord na Móna. If there is a will, there is a way. We ask the Minister to have the will and a way can then be found.

Deputy Dara Murphy

The Government is more than aware of the seriousness of the issue. The matter of a carbon tax is one for the Minister for Finance. There has been an unfortunate combination of events, with a supply of very low-cost competing products, as well as a mild winter. As I said, this is a matter for the company in the first instance, but the Minister will continue to encourage management and unions to try to find the best possible outcome in what is a very difficult situation. I thank the Deputies for bringing the matter to our attention.