Ms Patricia King:

I will deal with some of the questions. First, nobody had a conversation with us about alternative employment, whether it is retrofitting or any other option. About eight weeks ago, I and a number of the people who are here from the group of unions in Bord na Móna met the Minister, the Secretary General of the Department and a number of senior officials. At that meeting we said that we did not wish to arrive at a place where all of this is too late. We said we needed a forum to be put in place immediately and that the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, would have the professional people to do it. All the issues currently affecting workers in Bord na Móna and future employment should be tabled at that forum. It should be a stakeholder forum, which would include Bord na Móna management, Government representatives and others, to see if we can reach a position where we can identify the future work available. Bord na Móna management has consistently refused to take part in it. It will not convene it. It has taken a very narrow view.

The core piece at this hearing today is that it is my judgment that Bord na Móna is on a campaign. It shows no signs of having any interest in re-jobbing anybody. It gives no signs of having dialogue about the future of its workforce. I am stating very serious things but I do so because I have plenty of evidence and good reason to do so. As regards the list of options the Deputy mentioned, not one person in Bord na Móna management, from the chief executive down, has any interest in having that discussion with the representatives of the workers who have worked for decades in Bord na Móna. That is the first thing I must say.