Ms Patricia King:

I do not agree with the comment that the workers in Bord na Móna are well looked after. That is a myth and we are glad to have the opportunity to say that to elected representatives today. That is the first matter.

The second matter is the notion that redundancy solves people's problems. Our movement has always stood for protecting employment and protecting people in work. If people are made an offer and they decide to accept it that is a matter for them, but we are not advocating that people be made redundant from what was decent work, to be replaced by either nothing or what is very indecent in terms of conditions. Of course, we understand from a just transition point of view the involvement of the holistic nature of the community and so forth. One or two groups have been set up in the midlands to attempt to deal with the wider piece and we will work with those groups.

The ESB is a different animal from Bord na Móna. The ESB has yet to be tested in terms of its workforce and how it will handle the just transition. It is quite capable of absorbing the 70 or 80 jobs that will be lost in Shannonbridge and Lanesborough, for example.

We are talking about two different entities. That is not to say the ESB does not have a major role to play in the just transition and in having a plan for that.