Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)

As the Tánaiste will be aware, the midlands and County Offaly, in particular, are the areas most impacted by the just transition. The loss of Bord na Móna created a significant ripple effect in communities right across the county. Most recently, we have been hard again with the planned closures of Cardinal Health followed by Fastway Couriers in Portarlington only a few short weeks ago. There is an air of major uncertainty in terms of our economic development and jobs into the future and many constituents and, indeed, small businesses have conveyed that to me.

Into that mix, we now have a fairly damning report on the Just Transition Fund and its implementation in the region by European Movement Ireland. Despite being vehemently pro-EU, the report makes it abundantly clear that there has been significant and well-grounded criticism from local community groups that Just Transition Funds' have been allocated unequally across counties and with inadequate consultation. Indeed, comments by Dr. Gillian Kennedy, policy manager at European Movement Ireland, were also reported by the Offaly Independent recently. Dr. Kennedy states in the report that the findings demonstrate that there have been challenges in the fund's roll-out and that there have been barriers preventing communities from fully benefiting from it. Beyond job creation, ongoing structural issues in some of the designated territories were also identified. For example, on the implementation of funds, local councillors in Offaly have also been critical of the lack of joined-up thinking and the structural challenges linked to tourism, accommodation and infrastructure that cannot be tackled by the just transition process alone. These comments indicate that the predominantly project-based aspect of the tourism regeneration funds will be insufficient without parallel investment needed in infrastructure in Offaly and in the midlands.

In terms of solutions - and I want to be solution-based here in my approach today - Dr. Kennedy pinpoints out simplifying the application process and ensuring fairer access to funding are critical to making the transition truly just and, indeed, more importantly, more equitable. This is vital as the report notes widespread concerns over the complexity of the funding system with both farmers and community groups citing difficulties in accessing support. What we have here is effectively a just transition process that was posed as a solution to the problem but instead it has ended up causing a whole range of distinct new problems in its place.

I am asking the Tánaiste to take note of this important report and its findings and to commit to using every piece of leverage he has at EU level to ensure that the process does not descend any further into a web of funding barriers that would result in communities in Offaly continuing to suffer from a process that was imposed and foisted on them without adequate consultation. We should not be left carrying the financial and social can here for a project that is rapidly losing whatever limited appeal it had.

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