Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his efforts in reading that out. As I said earlier, a political charge was made. In June 2015, the CEO of the company came and spoke very well to the workers. I regret, however, that a senior member of Bord na Móna did not come down to meet the workers to tell them they were losing their jobs. It is unacceptable that a senior representative of the company at board or management level was not there on the day of the closure of an industry which has been in place for multiple generations. When the CEO addressed the workers in June 2015, he outlined a potential investment plan to create projects in the plant. I very much welcomed the proposed heat and power plant, but there were a number of conditions which the CEO outlined to the workers. In the circumstances, the charge which was made this morning was childish. Not only was it childish, but I note that Deputy Micheál Martin is a former history teacher and that he must like engaging in revisionism. I would like him to correct what he said. The heat and power plant did not happen as I found out long after I left Government because management decided against it due to issues around connectivity to the grid, the cost associated with it and the changing commercial situation with the lowering of volumes of briquette production.

I ask the Minister of State to relay a number of things back to the Minister. We need an extension of time. This has been a bolt from the blue for the workers and an extension will give them time to format their lives and plan. We need a plan for the resource and plant that is left in place. The peat that is left there needs to be exported which would save some jobs and create others. As somebody who supports workers, I note finally that the redundancy package is unfair. I do not know how it was negotiated in the first place. The workers with the longest time served will, on average, do worse, which is incredible. I know the Minister will have to talk to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform about that and I ask the Minister of State to ask him to do so.

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