Ms Anna Marie Delaney:

I thank the Chairman and the committee for inviting the midlands regional transition team to engage with them this afternoon. I am joined by my colleague, Ms Sarah Morgan, and by Mr. Padraig Boland, the training manager with Laois and Offaly education and training board, ETB, who is also a member of the regional transition team.

I will outline the importance of both peat harvesting and the power stations to the midlands economy and will outline the interventions and activities undertaken by the regional transition team to date. Bord na Móna was established by the Government in the 1940s with a remit to provide employment opportunities in the midlands region. That was a period when there were very few employment opportunities and emigration was a dominant feature of life in the midlands. The remit was to provide employment opportunities and Bord na Móna transformed the economic landscape of the region, with the midlands experiencing in-migration, new settlement and community formation in predominantly rural areas in close proximity to the bogs and the power stations that emerged.

At the height of employment in the 1980s, Bord na Móna and the ESB accounted for some 7,000 jobs in a very sparsely populated and rural region, becoming the mainstay of the midlands economy, providing employment for generations of families and often for many of them, obtaining such employment straight from school.

In October 2015, Bord na Móna signalled end of peat harvesting by 2030, which provided for a 15-year period of transition. A further announcement came in October 2018, with Bord na Móna announcing its brown to green strategy and the acceleration of its decarbonisation programme, indicating that peat harvesting would cease in 2027. In response to this announcement, the midlands regional transition team was established under the auspices of the midlands regional enterprise plan, its membership comprising regional stakeholders. The purposes and objectives for that team, set out at that time, were to pursue funding opportunities and actions to mitigate the impact of the Bord na Móna job losses on the individuals concerned and the impact on the local and regional economy and to position the region to develop alternative forms of employment, attract investment and maximise existing employment opportunities and resources.

In 2018, Bord na Móna employment figures in the region were some 2,000 directly employed with an additional 2,000 indirectly supported. Of those directly employed, some 1,200 were in peat harvesting. Approximately 1,000 of the total directly employed were employed within County Offaly.

Bord na Móna opened its voluntary redundancy programme in October 2018 and close to 500 people will have exited by the end of 2019.

We are a large employer in a rural region and the closure of 21 bogs in that region is deeply felt directly and indirectly.

In October, Bord na Móna brought forward to 2025 its plans to cease peat harvesting and recently reopened its voluntary redundancy programme. Following last Friday's announcement of the closure of two power stations in the midlands at the end of 2020, it is reasonable to assume the 2025 date may be brought forward again.

Since its establishment, the regional transition team has worked in four areas. These are securing special status and designation for Offaly and the midlands region and related funding opportunities, addressing the needs of those offered redundancy and emerging employment opportunities, assess the emerging property and land opportunities that might arise and marketing the region.

Key highlights and achievements in these areas include the acceptance of the midlands into the EU coal regions in transition platform. This will enable the midlands region to avail of the support of a dedicated country team. Technical assistance will be provided under the secretariat's technical assistance to regions in transition, START, programme, with site visits by experts confirmed for December. An holistic plan for just transition for the midlands region will be developed to provide a blueprint for the impacted communities. Another highlight is the recent budget announcement of the midlands just transition fund and midlands deep retrofit programme. We welcome both of these announcements. We have also engaged with NESC, which Ms Duffy mentioned earlier. This engagement has been on the development of a framework for action on transitioning to a low-carbon digital future. Numerous clinics have been held in bog communities to assist those employees impacted by the decarbonisation agenda. A skills, education and jobs fair and idea generation boot camp was held in May in the Mount Lucas training centre. This was very well attended. It targeted casual, seasonal and those full-time Bord na Móna employees exiting under the voluntary redundancy scheme. There was a sectoral focus on manufacturing and construction. It was in partnership with Bord na Móna, the Construction Industry Federation, IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the local enterprise offices throughout the region, the regional skills forum and the education and training boards.

We have also seen the implementation of the explore initiative for former Bord na Móna staff, which is a programme designed to upskill older employees in manufacturing in areas such as digital skills, personal development and preparation for change. The programme was delivered by the education and training boards following a funding application by the regional skills forum. It was very well received by the participants.

Athlone Institute of Technology and the regional skills forum have been delivering Springboard+ for skills to advance programmes for those leaving Bord na Móna through voluntary redundancy. The education and training boards have developed bespoke courses on skills for those accepting voluntary redundancy. The education and training boards and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection are undertaking on-site skills audits in Blackwater and Mount Dillon with a view to developing bespoke training courses for destination employment sectors. The education and training boards are developing bespoke courses for the nearly zero energy building standard and the deep retrofit programme.

Bord na Móna and Offaly County Council are undertaking a scoping report to examine the possible expansion of the Bord na Mónadiscovery park into an ecotourism destination of national and international significance. We are striving to position the midlands as the low-carbon region of Ireland, retaining its association with energy generation, transitioning to cleaner forms of energy, such as the Lumcloon energy battery energy storage system, the first of its kind in Ireland on a commercial basis. A sod turning event was held in September. There is also the development of Portlaoise as a national low-carbon town model.

A national conference on creating business opportunities from climate change was held on October 9. This is another initiative of the regional transition team. It engaged with the climate action regional office and examined international trends and demonstrated how responses to climate change by business, including within communities, can effectively drive innovation and the adoption of disruptive technologies and can embrace more flexible work practices. There was a panel of expert speakers and the keynote speaker was Dr. Tara Shine.

A midlands network of co-working facilities has recently been established, comprising more than 20 facilities that can provide flexible working solutions. It is exploring opportunities to provide additional enterprise space in impacted bog communities as facilities become vacant. This is delivering on the midlands regional enterprise plan and contributes to Enterprise Ireland's powering the regions policy to provide 600 spaces in the midlands region.

The regional transition team welcomes the Government’s commitment to provide a just transition fund of €11 million, including the €5 million pledged by the ESB. This is targeted at the midlands to support retraining, reskill workers and assist local communities and businesses in the low carbon transition. It also welcomes the additional €5 million for the National Parks and Wildlife Service for bog rehabilitation and the €20 million midlands deep retrofit housing programme. We look forward to receiving more details about these initiatives in the coming weeks.

We welcome the appointment of the first just transition commissioner, Dr. Kieran Mulvey, and we look forward to developing a framework for the region to support our citizens and develop new employment opportunities for the workers impacted by the acceleration of decarbonisation, thereby ensuring a just transition, while also sustaining our rural communities.

In recent years, under the Action Plan for Jobs the midlands experienced employment growth. These hard-earned gains are now under threat. The measures announced in the budget must be supported and reinforced in the years ahead and we as a region ask that the unique challenge faced by the midlands in transitioning to a low-carbon economy is very much to the fore as negotiations commence on the EU budget post 2020.