Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for coming in to help the committee in its deliberations.

I ask Mr. Joyce when was the energy and national resources sector group established. Does the Irish Congress of Trade Unions see its role as an influencer, given that it represents up to 800,000 workers? Does it see itself as an influencer in getting the message of climate action out, as well as dealing with the more practical aspects of the transition in terms of job losses and job creation and all of that? The nub of it is whether ICTU has accepted that the climate is changing. Has it accepted the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, report?

I am from the midlands and I reject Senator Devine dubbing the area as a rust belt. It is disgraceful and inappropriate to use that kind of language. The entrepreneurs and the hard-working people who live in the midlands deserve better than that kind of language.

The midlands action plan for jobs had a target of 14,000 to be created up until the end of this year and more than 15,500 have been created thus far. I do not think we need be concerned about it. There are, in fact, jobs being created. The key, of course, is to make sure that people are upskilled. While I appreciate there are people who are in their 50s who may have spent a lifetime doing a particular job, they still are well capable of being upskilled and they deserve that opportunity. What do the witnesses see as being a role for the just transition forum? It seems they are saying that it is just on a regional basis. Have the witnesses examined whether that is sufficient, considering we are a small island? I noticed that, in Australia, the example was of a town that put this plan in place in advance of the closure of the power station there. As it is a continent, one would accept they would be obliged to have regional fora there. As we are a small country, should we have a national transition forum? Have the witnesses examined whether the national dialogue on climate action would fulfil that role or whether the regional action plan for jobs implementation committees would fulfil that role? Is there a role for them?

Who would lead the proposed just transition forum? Would it be the unions? I know in other countries, the unions take the lead.

There is a great opportunity for new work with the retrofitting that we know is required, particularly on public buildings, local authority houses and so on. There are skills shortages in that field - the Construction Federation of Ireland says it is bringing in workers from abroad - but surely there are highly-skilled people who could be further upskilled who could be part of that and it might be a great opportunity for them.

Have the unions had any further thoughts on the brown to green policy to replace peat with biomass energy? Are there other opportunities for workers in this regard?

Did the unions engage in the public consultation on the national mitigation plan produced last year? It will clearly have a great impact on people across other sectors as well as energy generation and production, with the decarbonisation of everything in addition to electricity, such as the built environment and so on. The unions represent a large number of workers and are a key influencer on this area.