Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will congratulate him on that in a moment. Turf cutters in Laois, Offaly and throughout the midlands who depend on Bord na Móna plots have not been able to cut one sod of turf. Thousands of households throughout the midlands, from Laois and Offaly up to Roscommon, depend on this as a source of fuel for the winter. They do not have €50,000 or €60,000 at this point for a deep retrofit and heat pumps. An Bord Pleanála sat on the permission for Bord na Móna to apply for substitute consent for months. Leave to apply was supposed to be granted in March but it did not come until May. As I said to two Ministers in the Chamber last week, someone needs to pick up the phone. While the Government cannot direct what decision should be taken, somebody could ask the board to get a move on, because this year's harvest will be lost and turf cutters are losing their plots this year. A programme for Government is being negotiated among Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, and the rights of domestic turf cutters need to be enshrined in that.

The transition in the midlands from brown to green energy was supposed to take place over ten years, but due to the failure to deal with it by successive Governments, workers and communities in the midlands now have ten months.

We are where we are. For years Sinn Féin has called for the midlands to become the heart of renewable energy. I echo the welcome for some of the plans put forward by Kieran Mulvey. The midlands urgently needs an ambitious plan to be put in place and a major stimulus package to reboot the economy.

I welcome the commissioner's report but the scale of the transition facing the midlands deserves a commission on a firmer footing, not a part-time commissioner. A just transition commission must be established on a firmer footing. There is no new money with the report launched last week. There is only the money that was announced last autumn, and the €5 million from the ESB. That is all welcome but it is not enough. The just transition commissioner has suggested and has called for another €25 million. This needs to be front loaded. We need to access finance from the European Investment Bank's just transition fund and the low carbon innovation fund. The midlands also needs to see part of the public service obligation levy, PSO, repurposed for renewable projects and perhaps the Minister will respond to that if he can.

We need to take advantage of the strategic location of the three midlands power plants in Lough Ree, west Offaly and Edenderry, and use them as energy hubs. Bord na Móna should continue to operate the Edenderry plant and convert from 42% biomass to 100% biomass. The Shannonbridge and Lough Ree plants must be retained in ESB ownership and move to biomass or biogas and, crucially, be used as energy connection points for solar, wind and other sources of energy. They are strategically located on the national grid and those sites need to be retained in Bord na Móna and ESB ownership.

The surplus heat from the three plants could be used in horticulture, as is done in other countries. Hot water is pumped into rivers, which causes problems, but the water could be used to heat glasshouses for horticulture. As a key company in resource recovery, Bord na Móna, which is already successfully involved in recycling, has the expertise, sites and facilities. It needs to become a major player in this area.

Laois cannot be left out of the just transition process. It has gone through a transition but there was no just transition for Laois. I say this as a former Bord na Móna worker in Laois. Hundreds of people with whom I worked were thrown onto the scrapheap. Some of them have never been able to get back into a job. The Coolnamona site at Portlaoise offers an excellent opportunity. I have spoken to Bord na Móna management and to the Minister, Deputy Bruton, about the development of new industry there on a number of occasions, because of the size of that site and its location, which is at the crossroads of Ireland. The M7, M8 and N80 are all within half a mile. It is also adjacent to a main rail line.

The €20 million retrofit money is welcome and is a starting point, but it must be part of a larger package. The Mount Lucas construction training centre in Offaly must be designated as the centre of excellence for apprenticeships and training in energy efficient construction and retrofitting. Good work is being done there currently by the Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board. I am aware the Minister was involved in trying to advance some of that, which is very welcome, but it needs to be scaled up to become the national centre.

The ESB and Bord na Móna are good, State-owned companies that have put huge money into the economy through income tax, dividends to the State each year and through numerous other sources. The companies have a proven track record of contributing to the local and national economy and they must be supported to be central to this just transition. Perhaps the Minister will respond on my query on repurposing part of the PSO levy.

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