Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a couple of questions. In respect of An Post, I compliment the company. I was my party's spokesperson on communications a few years ago and the company was in deep bother at that time. It has had to carry out a transition very quickly and get itself into shape, so I compliment everybody involved. There is good employment for my area of Portlaoise and the wider County Laois at the mail centre and I hope that will be maintained. Some parcel facilities have been moved out of the centre but for now it is holding up well, and the Covid pandemic has actually brought a new layer of business to it. I wish the company and everybody associated with it well.

On the ESB and Bord na Móna plants and the Department's role in the issue, the Lough Ree and Shannonbridge plants have stopped generating power. These plants are on the national grid and are strategically located. They are a plug-in point. There is deep concern that they either will not be used for anything or will be under-utilised. What is the Department doing in terms of new ideas? The plants are ideal plug-in points for solar power, which can be generated on the local bogs because there is a huge land mass. Both Lough Ree and the West Offaly Power Station in Shannonbridge are surrounded by a huge land mass of bogs. There is a great opportunity as a plug-in point for biomass, and there is plenty of biomass because, by international standards, there is a very large agricultural sector in the midlands, which is good.

They could also act as a plug-in point for wind power. While the location of wind turbines is a contentious issue, the one place where they can be put is where there are large tracts of bog, which can be utilised. Some of the largest bogs in Ireland surround these two power stations. I have been trying to highlight this for years. What is the Department doing to flag that up and explore how the power stations can be utilised to ensure they can be used for power generation and as connectivity sites because of their strategic location in the context of the renewable energy phase we are moving into?