Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 July 2020
13. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the measures he is taking to support the retention and protection of employment under the just transition process in the midlands with specific reference to Bord na Móna and the horticultural sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16124/20]
View answerI want to ask the Minister what measures his Department is taking to support the retention and protection of jobs in the midlands, with specific reference to Bord na Móna workers and those working in the horticultural sector. This question is being asked in the context of a just transition process that is being escalated. It is an unfair transition - it is not just. This question is also being asked in the context of Bord na Móna's decision to suspend all peat harvesting for 2020. There is significant concern around the impact on employment that these two realities have. I call on the Minister and this Government to support Bord na Móna in its appeal to recommence peat harvesting in order to safeguard jobs for as long as possible in the midlands, particularly in Offaly.
The Deputy is right that the just transition we seek in the midlands is critical. It has to be delivered and it is the first real test of the nature of the change we will make as we start to reduce our emissions at scale. It is critical for Bord na Móna that we deliver alternative job opportunities to the sectors and regions most affected and that we ensure vulnerable groups are helped as transformative policies are implemented. The Government is committed to such a just transition, recognising the significant level of change required and that burdens borne must be seen to be fair. This includes support for the work under way in the midlands to deal with the challenges facing Bord na Móna, its employees and various contractors and businesses, including local services which depend on the current business model. A whole-of-government approach to addressing this challenge is being implemented. This involves working with local stakeholders to ensure the people impacted can be best supported.
A just transition fund of €11 million opened on Friday, 19 June and will make money available to support those with good project ideas in the areas of employment and enterprise, training and community supports, and to projects which can make a difference. The call closes on Friday, 17 July and my Department, working with colleagues from other Departments, is preparing to review the project applications and looks forward to being able to select strong project proposals and allocate money to the wider midlands region. An implementation plan is being prepared by my Department in response to the recommendations contained in the first report of the just transition commissioner, and urgent action has already been taken in some key areas. This includes both the just transition fund call for applications, which I have just mentioned, and working with Bord na Móna to facilitate the advanced rehabilitation of bog previously harvested for peat used in electricity generation.
I thank the Minister for that response but I want to take up one point with him straight away. The Minister has not answered my question on whether he will support Bord na Móna in its appeal process to try to recommence peat harvesting in order to safeguard many jobs for as long as possible. We know that bog rehabilitation is spoken about but that will only provide handfuls of jobs in comparison to what we have now. I want to remind the Minister that this is an important employment source for many workers in the midlands, including in Offaly. The reality for workers is completely different from what is written on paper. I have had workers in my offices, many of them with young children and mortgages. Many environmental groups wave the green banner and are aspirational but have no consideration for the lives of others, for the communities or for the small businesses that will be affected by the policies they are advocating for. These people are still struggling to get on their feet and have not fully recovered from the recession. Instead of aspirations, we need common sense, pragmatism and assurances that job creation and retention will be top priorities for this Government in the midlands because we do not want to see our region further decimated. It still has not recovered, as I have said.
The Deputy is right. Those constituents of hers have to be at the centre of all of our attention. The cessation of peat extraction for industrial peat, power generation or horticultural use is a matter that is being led by the courts. The political system cannot intervene in the judicial process in that regard. However, we can start to promote the alternatives that will create the jobs that give us a sustainable future and will provide growth for Bord na Móna and for other private operators involved in managing our bogs into the future. That is not involving a handful of jobs. It has to be hundreds and thousands of jobs. I hope we can look within the stimulus package to advance further measures that will use the expertise that exists within the Bord na Móna workforce in managing bogs to see the storage of carbon and the benefit to the environment, as well as long-term jobs potential in the area.
I thank the Minister for that response and I understand the courts system but we need more than goodwill from the Government. We need strong assurances that the Government will support the retention of jobs for as long as possible, bearing in mind that this just transition was to last until 2030 and everyone was to be given a fair chance to adjust. We have not been given that fair chance. I want to ask the Minister, out of decency to the people of Offaly and the wider midlands area, to be fair about this.
I want to take another point up with the Minister. Will we see solid fuels imported into this country because of a decarbonisation strategy? Will we see something reflective of what happened in agriculture with the sugar beet industry? We saw sugar being imported and we saw where wrong decisions were made. I have fears of the same thing happening with fuel. That is why we need aspiration to be replaced by pragmatism and common sense and why we need to meet the needs of people in this State, including in the midlands. It is certain that we will have fuel poverty and that we will see imports coming in. I would like the Minister to answer those queries.
The programme for Government commits that within the lifetime of the Government we will solve the air pollution problem, which is a particular problem for many towns in the midlands, by moving away from the use of all smoky products that add to the air quality problem, especially imported products. That is a commitment.
Bord na Móna's new strategic plan that came out in response to the crisis that is facing the company needs to be more ambitious again, particularly when it comes to employment generation.
I believe there is a real opportunity for the company, not just in the area I mentioned of managing bogs, to restore biodiversity and store carbon but also in the using of the company's logistics and energy skills. For example, the retrofit programme we spoke about earlier is the perfect sort of project for Bord na Móna to develop apprenticeships, employ younger people who will have a 30 or 40-year career in rolling out the scale of change we need to make. Similarly, in the development of renewable power, I believe the company has real potential in wind, solar and other power supply systems to develop an economic base for the midlands that is the best example of public enterprise, which is in the tradition of that company. It is through those sorts of initiatives where we can create jobs.
