Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of the job losses in Bord na Móna announced this morning. As my colleague, Deputy Naughten, will know, I live five minutes from the power station and three minutes away from the Bord na Móna works. Some 150 people are effected by this. I ask the Tánaiste and the Minister, Deputy Bruton, to arrange a meeting immediately with the ESB and the EPA and Bord na Móna to try and get the power station re-opened as quickly as possible.

Second, this is a huge blow for the seasonal workers who have been hit, many of whom are students and part-time farmers. Will the Ministers ask Bord na Móna and the ESB to replace some of those people with other works in the area? We know that things are changing and that it is a difficult situation but we really need immediate action on this.

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