Mr. Willie Noone:

The Deputy is correct. In 2016, the group of unions in Bord na Móna agreed a plan, which accepted that peat production would be ceased as part of a phased process. It was agreed that processes and practices would be put in place during the transition to take account of each person's age and location and the alternative jobs that might be available. None of that came to pass. As Deputy Corcoran Kennedy mentioned, some training schemes were put in place in counties Laois and Offaly and a number of employers came to a fair day. The problem was that Bord na Móna would not allow any of its workers to attend the fair day unless they had signed up to take voluntary severance. Nobody else was allowed to go. No alternative work is being put in place for people. The company is dismissing people and cutting wages as we speak. It cut wages at the peat-processing plant in Kilberry last week. It is advertising jobs at the moment. Those who do not apply for those jobs are being let go. Those who apply for the jobs are being given one-year fixed-term contracts, which represents a change in their conditions of employment.