Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Being from the midlands, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this. We all accept that the move away from brown energy to green energy is happening, but it must happen in a way in which workers and communities are not left behind but are respected and have a future. There must be a just transition. When the committee was putting together the report for the Government, this is one of the areas on which my party and others were united in terms of ensuring it was in the Government's proposals and moved forward.

Unfortunately, that has not been happening up to now and it is having a seriously negative effect on families, workers and communities across the midlands. In County Laois, there was no just transition for the workers of Cúil na Móna. That has been moving away from peat over the last 20 years and has been scaled down, but there has been nothing for the workers over that time. The redundancies announced this year were a shock to workers and families. There were 200 earlier this year in the Offaly area, followed by 150 laid off temporarily in Longford last July. What has been frustrating for many people in the midlands is that the move away from peat has been in progress for 20 years, yet workers and their communities have been left behind. In towns such as Mountrath, which depended on Bord na Móna, there has been no replacement employment for the hundreds who lost their jobs.

We must change how we do this. In the future there must be proper planning and appropriate transition for workers and communities in counties such as Laois and Offaly. For a start, the power stations at Shannonbridge, in west Offaly, and Lough Ree are set to see the public service obligation, PSO, expire on 31 December next. The licences are also due to end in December. I contacted the Department about this, but I am still awaiting a reply. Perhaps the Minister could let the House know whether these matters have been resolved or what the plan is for these two stations. Obviously, people are very concerned about this.

According to the paper published this year by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, the ESB unsuccessfully sought funding to dismantle both Lough Ree and Shannonbridge in the event that these plants lose funding from the PSO levy. If that happens and both plants are shut down, what plans does the Government have in place for the workers? What transition arrangements and alternative employment will be available?

Our party has brought forward a well-researched document titled, Powering Ireland 2030. It calls for 80% of energy in the all-Ireland market to be generated from renewable sources. It is an ambitious target but, looking to what has been achieved in other countries, we believe it is achievable.

A key component of such a transition is the development by the State of renewable biomass and biogas sectors. The midlands can be the heart of such development. That is the message I want to convey to the Minister this evening. This presents an opportunity for the midlands because the region has the land, power stations and people with certain skills that can be developed. At the moment Bord na Móna's bioenergy division sources biomass to be used in the Edenderry power station. I am told that one shipload came from Australia. I do not know whether that is correct. A union representative told me that but the Minister might confirm it. We know, however, that shiploads have come from South America. That is absolute insanity from the point of view of the environment, the economy, and building sustainable communities.

We already have raw material, although it is not being utilised. I highlight the fact that there is a surplus of straw in the country in addition to hedge cuttings and forestry thinning waste. Some forestry waste is being utilised but we need to start using all of those sources of biomass. They will not be enough in themselves, which I understand. It is for that reason that Sinn Féin has been arguing for the past eight years that we need to develop biomass crops and to grow them widely. Trials with willow trees have been carried out, which were not that successful, but there are other crops and other examples. We have all been looking at information in that regard over recent years because we know how important it is. We have a large farming sector in this State. We also have issues with waste and emissions. Farming incomes are also low, which is a major issue, particularly in some of the communities where Bord na Móna activities are being scaled down. Many of the people working in Bord na Móna are also part-time farmers. The State should not be importing biomass of any kind of a long-term basis. We need to develop our own supply chains in Ireland.

The Government's plan for the plant at Moneypoint under Project Ireland 2040 is to convert it to burn natural gas by 2025 at a cost of €1 billion. We face a challenge in that respect. The plant was closed for a period. The future of Moneypoint is an issue in the context both of servicing our electricity needs and of the communities and workers involved. We welcome the commitment to phase out coal combustion but consideration has to be given to converting those plants to alternative fuels and to developing biogas and biomass.

Bord na Móna and the ESB are renowned for their apprenticeship schemes. They have an excellent history of, and great credibility and experience in, producing good apprentices and tradespeople. They have good track records in that regard. There is no reason they should fail to play a role in the new green and sustainable energy sector. What plans are in place to upskill those workers currently employed in the peat industry and in the other industries that are to be scaled back? What plans are in place to train them in the high-efficiency construction skills needed to retrofit homes and to enable them to work in different parts of the country?

With regard to the horticultural sector, the horticultural peat plants at Coolnamona and Kilberry are hanging by a thread. Peat is stockpiled on the bog. I was looking at it again over the weekend. The decision by the British retailer, B&Q, to refuse compost composed partially or totally of peat is a reality. That is what the customer is telling us. Workers in Laois and south Kildare cannot be thrown on the scrapheap. We need to make more use of the facilities at Coolnamona and Kilberry and to provide a sustainable transition for them with regard to horticultural products. There is an opportunity to start using municipal waste to generate compost free from horticultural peat. That needs to be developed. Some of this is being done at Kilberry. I know that and I understand that but it needs to be scaled up. We produce a lot of waste as a country. This is an opportunity to use that waste to move towards more sustainable horticultural products.

We cannot allow the midlands to become a rust belt. We have to ensure that it becomes a dynamic economic area. It has been one in the past. Bord na Móna regenerated Offaly, as did the ESB and other industries. That can be done again as part of the move from brown to green. We are late starters, however, and we are where we are. We need to ramp this up now. We need investment in alternative employment and in training and upskilling. That is why I have proposed that we use the training centre at Mount Lucas. It needs to be expanded. The Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board is doing very good work there but it needs to become a centre for apprenticeship training. I am making the firm proposal that the centre at Mount Lucas, between Edenderry and Daingean, be used for that purpose. I know people who have attended courses there but it needs to become a centre for training and apprenticeships in the new skills required for installing green energy measures, building energy-efficient homes, commercial buildings, offices and community facilities, and retrofitting.

Many communities throughout the State are watching to see what will happen in the midlands with regard to the peat industry because it is the litmus test for how the transition to a more sustainable future will be handled. Successive Governments have handled Bord na Móna poorly. I do not refer only to this Government but to the Governments in the 1980s and 1990s that moved away from horticultural peat and sod fuel, for example. These past actions have served to make communities anxious and concerned. People in rural areas resent the fact that they will carry an unfair share of the financial burden arising from proposed climate actions.

A much better approach to a just transition is needed to gain the trust and support of the ordinary people and communities who will enter into the just transition phase. Moneypoint is a case in point, as are the midlands. We need to do our best in that regard.

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