Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

In fairness to the Deputy, he has always made those points. I appreciate his interest in this matter. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, launched a public consultation on the development of Ireland's social climate plan last Thursday. The plan will set out measures to be financed under the EU Social Climate Fund over the period 2026 to 2032. The EU Social Climate Fund is the first EU fund developed with the explicit purpose of alleviating potential energy and transport poverty occurring from the transition towards clean mobility and decarbonised built environment. There may be some opportunities arising from that fund for the Deputy to focus on. We are trying to ensure that the funds that are available meet the needs of those who were impacted to the greatest extent as a result of moving away from the harvesting of peat in the region. The Deputy has identified some areas. It is in the interests of the Government to work with those communities that are most affected to ensure that the transition is as seamless as possible. That is a big statement, because no matter what was done, there was going to be a significant impact on those communities.

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