Ms Patricia King:

The director of the Workplace Relations Commission has corresponded with all of us and said the WRC is happy to provide the forum and understands how important this is. The chief executive and his team are on another mission. We can guess what the mission is. Our guess is that they want to de-unionise the place. They want to have little engagement, let people go and then they will decide the rates of pay of any future jobs. They will be in control. We understand that this is what they are doing. There is a big battle taking place for the future. It is extraordinarily serious that nobody appears to have the wherewithal, despite the fact that the main shareholder is the Government, to tell Bord na Móna management to allow the just transition forum to happen.

There is no point in mentioning Mr. Kieran Mulvey. He has no role for us. He will not have anything to do with us. Here we are with all these people about to lose their jobs and we know all the things that should be happening and all the best international advice, even if we are late to the plate in terms of the planning. All these things could be happening, but Bord na Móna management is point blank refusing to engage in anything. The management will say that it is using the joint industrial council. The joint industrial council in Bord na Móna is about solving day-to-day issues that might arise. It is of no relevance to this discussion. From our point of view, this is a most serious situation for the future of those workers. Somebody must ask Bord na Móna management to do what must be done here.