Mr. Willie Noone:

I can give the specifics of the Bord na Móna case. I have had engagement with the company and a member of the European Parliament about accessing some of the globalisation fund. There must be a certain quantum of employees involved. At this time we do not know how many people will exit the company and from what locations. The moneys that may become available from that fund are purely for training and upskilling.

Two types of Bord na Móna worker will be involved. There will be the Bord na Móna worker who will stay working in Bord na Móna for the foreseeable future and he or she will have a certain training requirement and there will be the Bord na Móna worker who will exit Bord na Móna and he or she will have a certain training requirement. We have discussed whether people exiting Bord na Móna who want to avail of a course and travel to Athlone Institute of Technology, for example, will be afforded expenses for travel. We believe such expenses are attainable. We have also discussed in some detail the possibility of getting experts in to upskill the remaining workforce but first we must carry out a skills audit to assess what we have, what will be required into the future and match that with training. That work is being done as we speak in this current round of talks.