Dr. Jeanne Moore:

I will answer this, given that I worked on the project.

I thank Deputy Smith. I think the midlands and Bord na Móna workers is a very sensitive issue. At the time we were doing the employment vulnerability work, it was very much a live issue. While we can in our work draw on some insights from the case studies that Sinéad Mercier did internationally, and we looked at the midlands as part of our own work, in terms of trying to see the practices and principles of just transition and how we can see them in evidence, we were not really in a position, nor would it have been appropriate at the time, for NESC to get involved in Bord na Móna specifically, but even now, we can see the funding being directed. There would be great value in research looking at the midlands to see how things have progressed for the workers impacted and for the broader enterprise and community groups in the area, and to see how the funding is being spent in terms of what really makes a difference in a community and how we can learn what best practice is.

As the Deputy said, in a region impacted, it is often a very time-sensitive issue whereby a state that can get involved early enough can anticipate it. We have examples from Spain and other areas in Germany were there was a very intensive regional focus, often with a steering group involved and quite large amounts of money invested in that region. It can take years for some of those impacts to really be felt, however. There is, therefore, a tension between directly supporting workers impacted and then the development of a region towards a low-carbon alternative solution. That can take a much longer period.

Some of these issues are experienced across Europe. There is a platform for coal-intensive industries in regions that are trying to look at some of these core underpinnings. I do not think Ireland has all the answers, but I believe it is a valuable exercise for Ireland to look at the midlands and perhaps draw out some of that learning for the next sector that is impacted.