Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It would be very helpful if the Taoiseach could give a simple explanation so that people can understand what fancy terms such as bioeconomy mean. I expect most people do not have a clue. Perhaps people studying science at an advanced level, whether for the leaving certificate or in college would understand it.

Regarding the future of Bord na Móna, the way people in Ireland use turf is changing dramatically. It involves major economic and social pressures in rural areas, yet Fine Gael has given no indication of what it sees as the future for Bord na Móna. Over the past three or four decades, Bord na Móna has shown a very considerable capacity to change and workers have shown a capacity to co-operate with change. However, the Government has no vision of how this will happen. The Lisheen mine has come to the end of its life and been abandoned. That is in a rural part of Tipperary. Will the Taoiseach indicate in simple language, whether in English or Irish, what vision, if any, Fine Gael and the Government has for a bioeconomy at Lisheen?

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