Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be fair to Deputy Lowry at the time, he suggested the announcement was premature but that was very robustly refuted by the then Minister, Deputy Kelly. The workers thought things were going to be sound for the next ten years. To be fair, the chief executive at the time did not suggest there were any prospects of the factory closing. At an Oireachtas joint committee meeting of May 2015, the chief executive officer spoke of an investment of approximately €10 million to convert both plants - those in Tipperary and Offaly - to 50% peat and 50% biomass, and that this would be a long-term project. No wonder people become cynical and disillusioned when they are treated in such a way. The workers should be treated with respect and dignity. We are talking about third and fourth generation families now involved with these plants.

Deputies met the Minister, Deputy Naughten, recently and the workers want the closure date extended to a minimum of 2020. The redundancy package is unacceptable as this is compulsory redundancy rather than voluntary redundancy. The longer one worked in the plant, the more one is punished by the redundancy package. There should be significant retraining opportunities provided to the workers. The carbon tax has been doubled and the exemption for peat was removed by the last Government; this money should be put into a fund for enterprise and employment opportunities in these regions that have been so badly affected by this announcement.

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