Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish Mr. Meagher the best of luck in his new position. I wish to hear his vision for apprenticeships in Bord na Móna in the coming years. In fairness, the company had a great name for bringing forward new generations of apprentices, particularly fitters.

Unfortunately, it appears that in the period between now and 2030 some 1,600 to 1,700 jobs in peat production will be under pressure. One can look at the company's track record and what it did with the last batch of workers who were employed on temporary contracts. When the company took the lorries from them, it brought in private contractors. It put full-time lorry drivers on the bogs and got rid of the part-time workers who had made a living by farming or working for a while during the winter and working in Bord na Móna during the summer. That is not the way to ensure there will be sustainable jobs in rural Ireland. I wish to hear Mr. Meagher's views on that issue.

This was mentioned earlier and I will not dwell on it, but I do not believe Bord na Móna should receive a tariff to produce biomass in Georgia or elsewhere. It should be examining such ideas as the use of solar panels here.

On flooding - I appreciate that Mr. Meagher will not be able to answer all of our questions - we have looked at areas along the River Shannon where water could be parked. Is Bord na Móna willing to work on that matter with either the local authorities or the Office of Public Works? Parts of the Little Brosna river were dredged. Is Bord na Móna willing to help in the cleaning of rivers in which there is a huge amount of silt? The debate on the amount of silt in rivers is over and Bord na Móna should make a gesture in that regard. In fairness, it has plenty of 22RBs, crawler cranes and so forth, available, the use of which would be a help.

Bord na Móna is involved in the operation of wind farms. To be honest, we had a bad experience in County Roscommon where Bord na Móna became involved in the Sliabh Bawn wind farm. Due to flooding and so forth, it has been a very protracted issue for people living in the area.

The company needs to handle things and work with the communities.

I wish to touch on a question asked earlier. Natural heritage areas and special areas of conservation have been designated throughout the country, north, south, east and west. A tranche of natural heritage areas has come on-stream. Bord na Móna has vast tracts of bog that it will probably not use. The company decided not sell this land to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Bord na Móna wanted to have the title of the land and a 65-year licence. I would not tolerate that, to be honest. Is Mr. Meagher willing to give a commitment to resolve the problem in order that we can protect bogs under so-called EU legislation and under Irish legislation, in particular, the Wildlife Act? Is Mr. Meagher prepared to see it outright? Coillte is doing that, in fairness. Other State or semi-State bodies have co-operated to resolve the problem. Funnily enough, Bord na Móna has decided to hold the title and give a 65-year licence. Is Bord na Móna willing to go down the road of making a decision in that regard?

Peat production in my area for Shannonbridge and Lanesboro will be reduced in the coming years. Bord na Móna has a vast amount of railway track. There are communities in the west that have large amounts of designation in their areas. Is Bord na Móna willing to work with these communities to give them these railway lines? We could create jobs through potential tourism.