Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I welcome Mr. Meagher and wish him well. I note that he is only in the position five weeks. While I have no doubt that he can provide a high level of detail, we would be delighted to hear back from him at a later stage in respect of some of the queries we are putting to him.

I note that in the past five weeks Mr. Meagher has travelled to areas throughout the country. No doubt he has been to Kildare, my home county. If he wishes to come back again, I would be more than happy to meet him there.

Bord na Móna has been crucial to my county. I come from Rathangan, where we have Ballydermot. My home is beside where An Foras Taluntais used to be so I am familiar with Bord na Móna. I live in Newbridge now. Of course that is where the headquarters of Bord na Móna is situated. Bord na Móna is something we have always been very proud of and I have always been proud to be associated with Bord na Móna. I am proud to be a bog woman, to use the words of Luka Bloom. I will never shy away from that.

I have two queries, one of which is around the apprenticeships. This is relevant for people in Rathangan, Ballydermot, Coill Dubh and Timahoe. These people came from all over to serve their time with Bord na Móna and greatly added to our culture and society. They married and settled down. We have second and third generations there. At one stage, per head of population Rathangan had the highest number of start-ups in the country. I imagine that was due to the legacy of Bord na Móna. People who had worked for the company could leave, having served their time and secured an excellent training in every sense of the word. Many left to start up successful businesses. That is something we need to start looking at again.

My particular question relates to Kilberry. Across south and north-west Kildare, Bord na Móna has been essential to the economic, social and community fabrics. In January of last year we heard that an acquisition was made of the White Moss company in England. The 60 people in Kilberry were concerned about this because they believed it would impact on their jobs and livelihoods. An extended community within Kilberry and Athy are dependent on these jobs. I had the opportunity to raise the matter in the Chamber with the Minister. We had a subsequent meeting with Bord na Móna.

Sadly, what the employees foretold has come to pass despite all the reassurances we were given at the time. I accept that Mr. Meagher may not be able to respond to that particular query at this point. Money had been invested recently in the plant. It is the only plant in Ireland for developing horticultural compost of a high standard. I understand that the English product Bord na Móna invested in is not of the same standard and this is impacting on the quality.

There was to have been a strike last week but it was called off at the last minute. I would have been happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with the workers because there is no doubt their livelihoods are being threatened. At the time, I said that there was a real sense of fear among the workers about asking the questions and speaking out. They felt they were being intimidated. That is not right in any organisation. There has to be a commitment to a given level of consultation. Unfortunately, I have heard that to some extent there is the same cultural ethos within headquarters. Having said that, I know many excellent people who work there and I wish them well.

I accept that there are challenging times ahead and that, as a company, Bord na Móna has to diversify and become sustainable. There should be a commitment to sustaining the jobs in Ireland and developing the resources in Ireland rather than outside the country.