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

I thank the Minister, Deputy Bruton, for being in the House today. I have a number of questions for him.

I will be parochial initially. I wish to talk about the just transition as it affects the employees of Bord na Móna, an issue I know is close to your heart, a Cheann Comhairle. Some 360 families are currently waiting for peat harvesting to take place this summer. That is dependent on a very complex planning process that must be completed by Bord na Móna. There is a potential safety net for those 360 families, which is to fast-track and front-load the rehabilitation of the cutaway bogs. I know work is to take place under the auspices of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with approximately €5 million allocated there.

However, we need a substantial amount of money, approximately €30 million, from the climate action fund to start rehabilitation of the 80,000 ha of Bord na Móna bog, much of it cutaway bog which could be developed into recreational amenities across the country.

As the Minister knows, within our region there are proposals for the national wetland park in the north midlands and the Mount Dillon bog complex. What funding is being put in place to commence the rehabilitation of Bord na Móna bogs by its staff which could secure a substantial amount of employment this summer?

Can the Minister explain why we as taxpayers are paying public funds to Bord the Móna through the wage subsidy scheme and the pandemic unemployment payment to pay staff who have applied for a redundancy package and yet Bord na Móna will not make a decision to release those staff on an early retirement scheme that they are anxious to take up, where they are being forced to remain in employment through State subsidies, and at the same time, other, younger people cannot get work?

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