Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is asking whether the just transition commissioner will have an industrial relations role. It has been clear that he will not have an industrial relations role. We have a joint industrial relations council between Bord na Móna and its unions chaired by the WRC. Unresolved issues can be escalated in the normal way to the Workplace Relations Commission. As Mr. Kieran Mulvey was formerly the director general of the Workplace Relations Commission, people may presume his new role will be similar but the Deputy understands that the professional Workplace Relations Commission must fill that role. It has great experience in dealing with difficult matters. We must ensure alternative opportunities emerge, which is the primary purpose of this process, and we must also ensure that the redeployment and retraining that Bord na Móna workers will need to avail of these opportunities will be available. It will form the core of Mr. Mulvey's work, although he will be empowered to make recommendations to the Government as he sees fit.

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