Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Like everybody else in the country, I could not help but note the Minister's visit to the midlands and the flurry of fast cars involved in that regard as it was well flagged by RTÉ, etc. I am not accusing the Minister of not understanding the issue, because I would not do that. Various committees have spent hours quizzing the CEO and the unions on the nature of a just transition and how it is dealt with, including two days ago, with officials from the Minister's Department. It has become apparent that there is a complete misunderstanding or disagreement on the meaning of a just transition for workers. On the one hand, it is seen as normal day-to-day business as usual and industrial relations issues that can be dealt with by the joint industrial relations council and on the other it is seen as a major issue to do with a society trying to move away from carbon fuelled industries, the latter being how I see it. If it is about major issues then it has to be dealt with in a different forum to the normal business as usual joint industrial relations council, which is not capable of dealing with the plethora of issues facing these workers and their communities.

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