Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to address the Minister on this matter as it is a very important issue in Laois and Offaly. As a former employee of Bord na Móna, as were most of my family, I am very concerned about it.

The effects of job losses and the closing of the bogs in the midlands is going to be devastating. I was in Edenderry last night, and people there are very concerned. People are also very concerned across County Laois, as are those who work with Bord na Móna in County Offaly, and indeed those who work in south Kildare. There is huge concern locally about this move. The Edenderry plant in west Offaly will have to switch to biomass. The Cul na Móna plant depends on horticultural peat, and it will also have to change due to the demands of retail chains in England, which want peat-free compost by 2020 or 2021. Where is the Government's plan on this? It is the shareholder, and it acts on behalf of the people. Bord na Móna was established with a clear mandate to create jobs in the midlands and to develop our indigenous resources and industry. It has certainly fulfilled that brief; it has transformed the midlands of Ireland, in particular Laois-Offaly, parts of Kildare and other counties.

We need to move quickly now. We have to make up for lost time. We have sleepwalked into this situation. I have been highlighting the fact that we need to put other resources in place for a number of years. We must now quickly develop biomass crops and wood products, and moving to renewable gas, solar and biogas. Bord Na Móna can do that, and we have to put those green industries in place now.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment for taking the time to discuss this very important topic. My thoughts are with the staff of Bord na Móna and their families on what has been a very difficult day for them. Many of these people are my constituents. Many people hear the words Bord na Móna and think of bogs in Offaly, but there are 330 administrative and management staff working in the biggest town in my county, in Newbridge. It is one of the biggest employers there. There are also 70 or 80 people working in Kilberry at the peat moss plant. Those people knew that this day was coming, but it has still been a difficult week. Part of my frustration is the fact that there was an announcement of job losses yesterday without news of the package that would be available to those taking voluntary redundancies. I would have preferred if people going home last night who were going to be sitting down with their families to talk about their future had that level of detail, because it is a very difficult time. Some of those people will be thinking about taking a package, and others will want to be a part of Bord na Móna's next phase as it moves towards an economically and environmentally sustainable future. We want these redundancies to be voluntary, but for that to happen the package has to be generous, in line with redundancies in other semi-State agencies such as RTÉ and An Post. It must be worth taking, and it should take into account the service staff have given to the company and the upheaval they will face in trying to change roles.

Can the Minister touch on the supports it will make available to the company and to the staff who are thinking of leaving? In terms of support from Europe and the just transition to a low-carbon economy, what supports are there for the Government to help it ensure the future viability of the company as it seeks to move from brown to green?

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I spoke on this matter during Leader's Questions. The Tánaiste responded in fairly general terms. His response was commendable in the sense that he reiterated the commitment of Government to making various State supports available to staff of Bord na Móna in the short-term. Perhaps the Minister can deal more extensively with the two questions I asked this morning. Can he confirm to the House that ESB will proceed with co-fuelling at Lanesborough and at Shannonbridge, having received confirmation from the Government last Monday that it is Government policy? I hope that planning application caters for such arrangements up until 2025, as well as an extension at Edenderry from 2023 to 2025. It would guarantee what remains in the peat harvesting sector. Over 900 staff are from my county, notwithstanding the others.

The Tánaiste said that the Government was open to suggestions and recommendations from the House and beyond. The various local authorities are meeting next week to formulate a response and to prepare a mechanism they believe would best serve their own regions. I wrote to the Taoiseach, and he informed me that he forwarded my correspondence to the Minister. I made a proposal for a just, sustainable transition forum which could be put in place to address these issues and make recommendations on innovation and enterprise to support the region with alternative forms of employment. Is funding available for such a forum? Other Deputies have spoken about the EU's globalisation fund, but I would also like to see the Government inject cash into this, perhaps using revenue from the carbon tax. The public service obligation payment to the ESB for those power plants expires next year, which will represent a saving for the Government. A portion of that money could be given towards this area; it would show the community that there is a willingness and commitment to helping the people and a pathway to assisting the region.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. I recognise the concern that all Deputies have expressed about the potential impact of this on affected families. Bord na Móna is a commercial State company with a mandate to develop the midlands region, and I believe it is taking the appropriate steps now, in a timely way, to set out a strategy that takes into account its obligation to operate in a decarbonised economy. It has recognised this need, and is taking the necessary steps to ensure there will be employment opportunities and that it will continue to be a driver of economic development in the midlands. It has recognised the obligation to decarbonise. The decisions it is taking mean that it will reduce its carbon footprint by more than 90% by 2030. It is a very major step. It also recognises the inevitability of the decisions it had to make.

Bord na Móna has set out in its strategic plan the opportunities it believes it can develop that will provide secure employment opportunities with good prospects for the future. Those opportunities lie in the areas that Deputy Stanley and others have mentioned and include expanding its interest in renewables, expanding its activities in the area of resource recovery and identifying new export growth markets where it can use its very significant assets and strengths to develop new trading opportunities that will deliver employment. I can confirm to Deputy Cowen that the ESB will be submitting a planning application; it is expected in the next couple of weeks.

The other issue raised by Deputies was support for workers who are directly affected. I can absolutely assure the Deputies that not only will Bord na Móna be putting in place its own programme, which it has worked out with its trade unions and has used before, to support workers, to assess their skill base and to support them in finding new opportunities, but all the machinery of the State, whether through the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, the education and training boards, ETBs, or re-skilling opportunities will be made available to the workers. I assure the Deputies of that.

On the issue of the redundancy terms and the need for voluntary exits, Bord na Móna has signalled that it intends that this will be a voluntary exit programme. It is consulting with the representatives of the workers about the terms of that programme; it will of course require approval from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. In terms of ensuring that the State does everything possible to support the building of the future economy in the midlands, I assure the Deputies that Bord na Móna will be working with the implementation committee of the midlands regional action plan for jobs.

It will be working with local authorities and taking on board ideas which come forward from them. It will also be working with local enterprise offices and the midlands regional skills fora to develop initiatives. In turn, these can be enabled through the €1 billion rural development regeneration fund and regional enterprise funds from Enterprise Ireland.

Bord na Móna is envisaging the development of tech hubs and enterprise centres which could create opportunities. An application to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund will be prepared with the trade unions and Bord na Móna to draw on that source.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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The key issue is that we do not want the midlands to become the rust belt of Ireland. Last week, when I met Bord na Móna’s chief executive officer, Mr. Tom Donnellan, and some of his staff, he outlined how the company has plans for waste to energy, horticulture and aquaculture. Bord na Móna has a site on the ring road in Tullamore. There is the Cúil na Móna site used by AES Waste Collection Services, a Bord na Móna company. It is located at the Togher intersection at Portlaoise, literally at the crossroads of Ireland.

I am glad to hear that the Government will make an application to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund. We also we need to look at the current subsidies for the burning of peat that are due to be phased out. In the context of the climate action fund, €500 million has been earmarked under the national development plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Bord na Móna has a big part to play, not just in the midlands but also nationally, in moving towards a green, renewable and sustainable economy.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply and welcome the confirmation that an application will be made to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund. In many ways, the change in structure of a firm of this size is the equivalent of the closure of coal mines in Wales in the 1980s. It will have a big impact across the midlands, particularly in Kildare where so many of Bord na Móna’s staff are located.

For the past 85 years, Bord na Móna did not just generate power for homes and villages, it also created employment. Having met the company’s chief executive recently, I was heartened to hear of the ambition the company has for its future. What supports will the Department give to the company as it seeks to fulfil its ambition to become the largest renewables company in the country? It is focusing on its greatest asset, its landbanks, and on aquaculture and other aspects. How can Bord na Móna secure a portion of the climate action fund to support many of the jobs which will be developed in the green sector?

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I welcome his statement to the effect that the ESB will proceed with the planning applications to which I referred in the coming weeks. We look forward to that because it guarantees the remaining workforce in the peat harvesting area meeting expected demands. The blueprint for such permissions was set and a precedent was created with the Edenderry application, which was eventually successful in the courts in recent years.

I also welcome the commitment to apply to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for specific targeting in the midlands region. The Minister said that the board, various local authorities and others can make applications to existing financing arms of the State, whether it is Enterprise Ireland, the rural regeneration programme and so forth. Will the Minister commit to a specific forum to deal with the offshoots of this decision and the ongoing transition that is taking place? Bord na Móna has been the driver of economic life in my county and those adjacent to it for 80 years. The effect will not only be on the workers and their families but also on communities and ancillary businesses and services offered in the region. They will be decimated unless there is a specific concerted effort to deal with this issue. That is why we want funding specifically targeted not only from the European globalisation fund but from the State, whether it is from the ring-fencing of revenue carbon tax revenues and the public service obligation saving that will be there from next year on.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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We have no intention of allowing the midlands to become a rust belt. I was the Minister who introduced regional action plans. It was the first time ever the State developed bottom-up regional enterprise plans for which we allocated €250 million in regional enterprise funds. That was the first time we had such a concerted approach. Under that, we have established an implementation committee for driving regional opportunities in the midlands. That is the vehicle we will use to work with Bord na Móna, which is a strong commercial State body with 80,000 ha of State lands, significant assets and experience, as well as a strong brand. There is a commitment to drive this forward.

We have the structures in place to address the needs. We have made funds available. The regeneration fund is €1 billion, the climate action fund is €500 million and the regional enterprise fund is €250 million. Every proposal will get a proper chance to be developed. Bord na Móna is doing exactly that. It is a powerful development agency with strong assets and best placed to drive this forward.

The creation of individual task forces does not add value when we have an implementation committee dedicated to the work of driving the midlands region forward. It has the leaders of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, along with all the key players and the private sector, driving those projects. That is the structure we need. They are tried and proven. We set a target of 14,000 jobs for the midlands region and that figure has been exceeded in the period.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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There has only been one IDA Ireland site visit to the midlands this year.