Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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85. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of funding provided to projects and initiatives in County Laois from the national and European just transition funds, under the various headings, to date in 2025, by recipients; the amount granted to each, and the purposes for which it is to be used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49377/25]

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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The issue I am raising with the Ministers of State relates to the distribution of the just transition funding that came from the European Union and the €16 million that came from the State. I have concerns in this regard. It is supposed to be for the former peat harvesting areas. Under EU funding, they are designated as coal regions. The State made the case successfully for funding for the former peat harvesting areas, like the midlands, that are affected. County Laois is one of those areas. I am delighted that there are two Ministers of State in the Chamber to address this because I have questions around it.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Stanley. From previous Oireachtas terms, I know he has shown a great interest in this particular area and championed it over that time. In total, more than €29.2 million under the EU just transition fund has been allocated to projects that are fully or partially based in County Laois. Of this, almost €3.6 million has been approved for projects under way solely within County Laois, while more than €25.6 million has been approved for projects across several counties, including County Laois. I will provide the Deputy with the full breakdown of these allocations in tabular form, including details of the recipients, projects and amount of support allocated. That information will be provided to the Deputy in that format afterwards.

The diverse range of projects being supported include Emo Court and Estate development, sustainable tourist accommodation in The Forum in Mountmellick, the development of Canal Road Business Park in Portarlington and the Poet's Cottage Community Café in Camross.

All information on projects under the EU just transition fund is publicly available on the beneficiaries section of the Eastern and Midlands Regional Assembly website, the managing authority for the fund. We will provide the details to the Deputy in tabular form afterwards.

The national just transition fund closed in December 2024 and disseminated no funds over the course of 2025. The Minister keeps the operation of the fund under review, including consideration of future calls.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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I have a record of the projects that got funding. My concern is that the worst affected areas did not get funding. It was not targeted at them.

Money was allocated by Laois County Council for tourism, which is good, for example to Emo Court. It is located in the middle of the county. I also welcome funding for The Forum in Mountmellick. It is good news that the Junction 17 business park was allocated €1 million. The Poet's Cottage community cafe in Camross also benefited, as well as the business park in Portarlington, which was allocated €1 million. That is all good. However, some of the funding went to derelict pubs in areas with no connection to Bord na Móna workers. I am talking about towns like Mountrath, Mountmellick and Borris-in-Ossory. One project was funded in Mountmellick, but no funding has gone into projects in Borris-in-Ossory or the Abbeyleix area. Former Bord na Móna workers and families are asking me where the benefit is from the total funding of €185 million. That is the question being asked of me as a public representative and I do not have a good answer for them.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I have an extensive list, which I can share with the Deputy. If there is a necessity to meet with some of his constituents about their concerns, I am happy to meet with them. This was a call-led approach, so it was dependent on projects being brought forward to seek funding. It was not as if the Government identified specific locations and sought to create a demand around that. The programme was in place and the calls went out for applications for funding, which were assessed against the criteria during the process. If the Deputy has concerns about specific areas, we will be happy to meet with him and attempt to work through them.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. My concern is that of the total available fund of €185 million, a reply to a previous parliamentary question shows that approximately €93 million has been spent. The reply to the question was received about a month ago. We are about 50% of the way through the funding. The feeling I get from people who have been showing an interest in the fund is that it is being rushed a bit. If we are halfway through spending the money, which is a lot of money, we must be careful about where the remaining €92 million or so is spent. I ask the Minister of State to take an interest in the matter. If need be, we should slow down the process. Perhaps there are deadlines from the EU that have to be met. If that is the case, perhaps the Minister of State would clarify that, but if that is not the case then we should pause the process, take it easy and make sure that the money goes to good projects.

In particular, I want to highlight that, according to the reply to the parliamentary question, only €3.6 million has gone to specific projects in County Laois out of €185 million. That is a very small amount for a county that was badly affected. I refer to towns like Mountrath, Mountmellick and Borris-in-Ossory and the Abbeyleix area where there are a lot of former Bord na Móna workers. I worked with a lot of them. Mountrath was very badly hit.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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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.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I recognise the efforts many communities have made to try to assist. Deputy Stanley should please share with us if there are other viable projects or assistance is required.