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

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 48, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:

“27. The Minister for Finance shall, within 90 days of the passage of this Act, publish a report on the extension of the relief under Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 to the industry which has the potential for significant job creation in Clonifeen Townland, Co. Offaly, Aghamore Townland, Co. Longford and Lanesborough Townland, Co. Longford.”.

I have been at a committee meeting dealing with the same issue and apologise that I inadvertently did not get the opportunity to move amendment No. 12. That amendment and amendment No. 14 deal with the same issue. Amendment No. 14 refers to the townlands in which the two peat-fired powered stations in Lanesborough and Shannonbridge are located. Amendment No. 12 references the 20 sites across the midlands where there are Bord na Móna workshops, which are directly relevant to the cessation of peat harvesting across the midlands. I seek a specific tax incentive be put in place in respect of these 20 sites to encourage replacement employment for the significant job losses we are facing in the ESB in 13 months and in Bord na Móna in the coming weeks. As many people from the midlands would know, because there is already a stockpile of peat on our bogs, there will not be any peat harvesting next year. That means all the seasonal jobs in Bord na Móna are now gone. On top of that, that is a significant threat to the permanent jobs. As I said to the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and as I said on Committee Stage to the Minister for Finance, this is effectively the equivalent of Google deciding to pull out of the city of Dublin. That is the impact and the scale of this decision across the midlands that will impact on people between now and the end of next year.

While the action by Government is welcome and any progress in this area is very welcome, and the appointment, in particular, of Mr. Kieran Mulvey, is a very positive one, the reality is we need to encourage private sector investment in our region. When I discussed this issue with the Minister on Committee Stage, he said I was defining a tax incentive for all of the midland countries, that it was far too broad and that I needed to have something that is focused and targeted. That is why I have specifically identified 22 sites across our bogs at the sites of our two peat-fired power stations for this particular incentive. I cannot be any tighter or more specific than that.

I seek to ensure the provision of an additional incentive for business that would create jobs and decide to invest on those sites in Tipperary, Kildare, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, Laois and Galway, right across the midland counties. The difficulty is those sites are competing with Dublin, Galway and the other cities to attract business investment and those cities are far more attractive for investment. We note the challenges IDA Ireland has in bringing foreign direct investment into our region. By providing a specific tax incentive very much focused on creating employment in those locations, it would act as an incentive for companies to come and at least look at these sites, which are located in rural communities across the midlands that have been so dependent on peat harvesting and employment in Bord na Móna and the ESB until now.

I agree we need to leverage EU funding. The coal regions in transition platform will help to provide us with EU funding, but there is also the opportunity of European Investment Bank funding for our region. However, to do that we need to engage the private sector and get it involved in our region. That is not forthcoming. This is a dispersed and diverse region that has found it very difficult to attract foreign direct investment. Until now, it has not come by preference or by choice to our region. I believe there is a responsibility now on Government to look specifically at these sites across the midland counties and acknowledge these are the specific identified sites where more than 2,000 staff were employed and where an additional 2,000 jobs were indirectly dependent on those and to provide an incentive to bring new employment into the region, whether it is in light manufacturing, the energy or horticulture areas or whatever area. It should bring employment back into those communities that are about to be decimated by the decision of An Bord Pleanála and the ESB not to submit a new planning application.

I was disappointed that the ESB did not decide to submit a new planning application. The decision in respect of An Bord Pleanála is very tight and the ability to appeal that is very limited. However, the decision by the ESB not to submit a new planning application is potentially the death knell in respect of the development of a biomass sector in this country. The development of a biomass sector was key to the creation of jobs across the midlands and key to maintaining jobs in Bord na Móna across this transition over the next decade. If, in putting a particular tax incentive in place, we can get the ESB, Bord na Móna or another company to re-examine the development of the biomass sector here, it is warranted and important. Every 15,000 ha of willow that would be grown across our region would create 470 long-term jobs in the harvesting of that particular crop.

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