Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Meagher to his new role. I crossed swords with him previously when he was the chief financial officer in Glanbia for which he was an excellent operator. He had a great grasp of the dairy industry and I am sure he will be of great benefit to Bord na Móna and its mission statement. With regard to that mission statement, Bord na Móna was established to create jobs in rural areas that were unable to attract industry. Unfortunately, as mentioned previously, a decision was taken to close the plant at Littleton, a decision that will leave a serious void in the area. The talks on a redundancy package are at an advanced stage. Bord na Móna is a very profitable company and the plant at Littleton contributed to that profit. The company owes it to the workforce to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion. The gap between the two sides is not huge and I hope the incoming chairman will advise the board that the negotiations must be brought to a successful conclusion in the interests of goodwill in the area towards Bord na Móna. Given the financial state of the company, we can make strong arguments this should happen.

We must accept that the decision on the closure of the plant at Littleton was taken for economic reasons, as the company only wanted to have one briquette production plant for the future, but one of the major criticisms of the decision in my area is that no plan was put in place before the closure. How much will the closure of the plant cost? How much will its dismantling cost? How many employees will be employed while the plant is being dismantled and for what period will they be employed? The plant is located on a very big site. It is most disheartening that a semi-State company made no plans for the use of that huge acreage before the plant was closed. The decision to close it was not taken overnight. It is unacceptable for a semi-State company to leave us with what could be called a desert of bog.

Horticulture has been mentioned with reference to the alternative use of peat. There are 1,100 acres of land in Littleton and other significant tracts in other areas of the country. It is incumbent on Bord na Móna to put that acreage to use for the local communities. If it was used in the horticulture sector, there could be 20 to 30 jobs created it Littleton alone. While that would not replace the jobs that were provided previously, it would be a step towards making Bord na Móna relevant in the community again. We reluctantly had to accept the decision to close the plant, but our main criticism is that no alternative use for either the plant or the huge tract of land available was found by the board.

I also have questions about different ventures Bord na Móna has in the pipeline. An agreement was signed with a Chinese company on the use of a hydro electric plant in the Silvermines. What is the position on that project? Has a feasibility study been carried out and will the project get off the ground? If it is feasible, what is the timeframe for construction and so forth? We have seen much coverage of the issue in the media, but I have seen no concrete evidence that the plant will be viable in the future. What is Bord na Móna's position on the use of this hydro electric plant? Will it be a runner and what is the position on the agreement with the Chinese company?

We have also heard about the plans to invest in a wood pellet plant in Georgia in the United States. As a farmer by trade, I cannot understand an Irish company investing in the United States in the production of biomass to be imported into this country. It smells of bringing coal to Newcastle and defies logic.