Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that this discussion on a just transition is taking place. I thank the Green Party for tabling this legislation to facilitate it. It is important that any discussion about a just transition is based on reality. The failure to recognise the basic reality of the climate issues and their impact on the ground, and to constructively engage with communities, has in large part undermined our ability to drive the change needed to bring about the transition and meet our climate targets. There has been a serious failure on the part of those advocating for climate action to come up with innovative solutions that reflect the unique challenges Ireland faces. There is a responsibility not just to highlight the problems but to come up with real and practical solutions that can be applied in communities throughout this country.

More often than not, advocates have tabled ideas that are simply copied and pasted from other jurisdictions, solutions which fail to reflect the reality on the ground in Ireland. This has led to the alienation of whole sectors of society and communities throughout this country. As Minister, I established the climate action fund to incentivise innovation in Ireland that would produce solutions that address the Irish challenges, rather than simply copying and pasting on the basis that what is done in some other part of the world can apply here.

One very practical example concerns carbon tax and transportation. It is important that any model does not disproportionately hit those living in rural or regional parts of the country, who are so reliant on diesel and who were encouraged through Government incentives to take up this fuel. As an alternative, the current review of the national car test operator is an opportunity for the Government to revise the testing regime to provide an emissions profile for each individual vehicle. This would treat those living in rural areas and driving longer distances more fairly, as their vehicles would have lower emissions profiles than a similar vehicle driving on congested city streets. Such a measure would encourage the retrofitting of diesel vehicles, including retrofitting to alternative fuels, and would support the conversion of the fleet to hybrid and electric vehicles. Most motorists would see the direct benefit in their rate of motor tax based on the actual emissions profile of their vehicle. On the other hand, this measure would not disproportionately hit the haulage or agricultural sectors, which are so reliant on diesel as a fuel. It would also act as a very effective congestion charge as vehicles driving on congested streets or at times of heavy traffic would have a much higher emissions profile and thus pay a higher motor tax. Will we see that happen? That is the type of thing we need to look at, addressing global issues in local and practical terms.

We also need to look at IDA Ireland's perverse policy of forcing more jobs into the city of Dublin. This leads to further demands for construction of offices and housing instead of utilising the infrastructure in our regions, which has already been developed and paid for by the taxpayer. That includes the need to provide high-speed broadband investment to every single townland and community in this country, spreading economic growth across the regions and not just compounding the problem we have already seen in the city of Dublin.

I now turn to a local issue which many colleagues have raised, namely, Bord na Móna. This has an impact not just in the midlands region as designated by Government, but also in Roscommon and east Galway, where Bord na Móna staff are directly employed in harvesting peat. We have seen an abject failure by environmentalists to acknowledge the reason Bord na Móna was established in the first place, namely, to create jobs in a part of the country which was an unemployment black spot. That applies equally today. Many of those working in this region are forced to travel long distances to access employment in the congested cities on our coast, such as those construction jobs in Dublin. We need to create employment in the region which supports the existing skill set of staff and small farmers. Co-firing of biomass is key to that. That is why it is imperative that the ESB submits a new application to Bord na Móna for the Shannonbridge power station that is based on co-firing.

Second, we must put in place a new economy so that the next generation and the generation after that can be employed locally. There is a failure to acknowledge that this is not just about the people employed in Bord na Móna today. It is about their children and the children who come after that. They do not have opportunities for employment in our region at the moment. I offer the example of County Roscommon. It has the highest rate of third level graduate education in the country and yet it has one of the lowest levels of graduate employment in the country because the jobs are not there. We are haemorrhaging those jobs to the cities, which is compounding the congestion and climate problems there.

We need to facilitate a just transition away from peat production to long-term sustainable jobs in our region. We need to tap into the huge potential of communities in every single parish in counties Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly and east Galway. To do that, we need to have a just transition fund. As I have already formally put to the Minister, we need to ring-fence 5% of the climate action fund, the rural regeneration and development fund and the urban regeneration and development fund to provide alternative job opportunities for the employees of Bord na Móna and the ESB and the communities that are dependent on those jobs. That will allow us to leverage funding from the European Commission and the European Investment Bank for the region.

The decommissioning of cutaway bogs is also an important part of any rehabilitation of the bogs. This work could commence tomorrow morning and provide sustainable jobs for seasonal staff and Bord na Móna staff who have been laid off. There is a very serious threat to next year's seasonal employment. A substantial number of staff, particularly in Mountdillon, have not been able to avail of seasonal employment this summer.

Work could start tomorrow morning on the removal of plastic and rail lines, an examination of existing stockpiles of peat and an investigation of the silt and settlement ponds and that would provide employment for seasonal staff.

It is also important that we see full implementation of the Government decision, taken in 2017, to establish a new semi-State entity called Bord na Móna Bioenergy. It was established by the Government and tasked with setting up an entire biomass industry, from contract growing by farmers to harvesting and processing, all the way through to contract delivery. It was initially envisaged as supplying the three power stations and subsequently meeting renewable heat demand. If that company had been operational, I do not believe the planning application at Shannonbridge would have been rejected.

We need to start implementing Project Ireland 2040. I refer to establishing the national wetland park in the north midlands. That work needs to be prioritised because it presents major opportunities for employment creation in ecotourism, as well as recreational employment. It has to include the development of the Cloontuskert works in County Roscommon which are owned by Bord na Móna as an interpretive centre. There must also be development of the Ballinasloe parkland project. It would examine how we could develop cutaway bogs in the vicinity of Ballinasloe and also tell the story of bog rehabilitation. It is located right beside the Dublin-Galway motorway and easily accessible. It could be a major tourist attraction in the area.

See this speech in context