Mr. Brian Carroll:

I have gone through some of the supports that the Government is offering. I also listed the Departments that form part of the grouping chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach and that includes the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. We have also mentioned the work of the NESC, which is looking to the future and talking about proactive planning for what will arise going forward.

As I said, there were certain things this year that escalated the exiting from peat and the Government has responded very quickly. I know that the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and Government agencies are engaging closely with workers affected to make them aware of available retraining, education and employment opportunities and exploring opportunities for affected workers through schemes such as community employment and the rural social scheme.

I also know that the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has a competitive regional development fund in the amount of €60 million administered by Enterprise Ireland and has allocated €3 million-----