Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will speak on the importance of just transition for the countries in the midlands impacted by the change in employment and industry, particularly that relating to Bord na Móna, which has changed the sector and industry in which it is involved. We have seen this at Shannonbridge and Lanesborough. Shannonbridge is only ten miles from my home town.

Today, there is a just transition webinar on the funding available for businesses or communities - or maybe for a farm, to provide additional income coming into a home. With changes in industry and work and those relating to climate action, the additional seasonal income that farming families were getting previously is not there now. We need to see other streams of income. Fáilte Ireland is running the just transition programme and the deadline for expressions of interest in the programme is June of this year. People can probably listen to a recording of the webinar.

Regenerative tourism accommodation is one of the elements of this. It could be to do with glamping, pods or log cabins. It is a way to have bed nights. I cannot overemphasise that there are areas of Roscommon and east Galway that have no bed nights. There are no hotels. We are lucky to have hotels in the middle of the towns of Roscommon and Ballinasloe but in Mountbellow, for example, there are no bed nights, yet it has an Atlantic Technological University campus. It is a university campus town. In areas of north Roscommon, there is a great deal of pressure. If we do not have people staying in our local areas, how will they spend locally? How will we get income coming into our shops and businesses and ensure a sustainable income for the west? I encourage businesses such as shops, cafés and restaurants to consider having log cabins. Would they consider an additional source of income for their businesses? Would homes and families close to the Beara-Breifne Way, the new cycleway from Galway to Dublin or any scenic or archaeological trail consider having bed nights? If so, please apply with an expression of interest before June. It is crucial we get this funding. Over €80 million has been co-funded by the Government and there is European Union funding of another €80 million. That funding is there for us to win but we need people to apply. We need ideas, vision and entrepreneurship and we need them now.