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

The Minister can be in no doubt now after hearing the words of Deputies Naughten, Fitzmaurice, Troy and myself. This really is not good enough. The Minister spoke in his reply about the station being closed for up to three months. This issue must be acted on now. I call on the Minister, and his colleague, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, to intervene in this situation. We cannot keep treating human beings in this manner. If this is the way that we are going to try and achieve our green agenda, it is not on. As I said earlier, that must be done by co-operation and people working together and not by sacrificing people's livelihoods. Many people in our region are going to be struggling because of this situation. Will the Minister become involved directly? Will the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, become involved directly as well? I challenge the Minister in regard to the situation of seasonal workers such as students, part-time farmers and part-time employees in other jobs. Will he ask the ESB, the EPA and Bord na Móna to try and place some of those seasonal workers in other jobs? Let us try to do that for them at least. It can be done if the will is there to do it.

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