Results 1-14 of 14 for peat speaker:Michael Lowry

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Security of Electricity Supply: Motion [Private Members] (15 Sep 2022)

Michael Lowry: .... Ireland has no capacity whatsoever to store gas in preparation for the high demands of winter, never mind in an energy crisis. The gas field in Kinsale is not only empty but it has been dismantled. This leaves the sole survivor, the Corrib gas field, without a crucial backup. That diminishes our ability to amass gas supplies in off-peak months. A solution we have is the burning of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Dec 2020)

Michael Lowry: As the Taoiseach is aware, garden centres, nurseries, soft fruit growers and the horticultural industry in general rely to a great extent on the availability of milled peat. Bord na Móna currently has stocks of milled peat and a proportion of it was earmarked for the horticultural sector. Recently, it has become apparent that Bord na Móna has diverted a lot of peat to export...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Dec 2019)

Michael Lowry: ...I want to be parochial in that the just transition is all about the midlands, but Littleton in Tipperary, which I represent, was always part of the Bord na Móna family. Our problem is that the peat briquette plant closed with the loss of 120 jobs, but we have not had a just transition. We seem to have been completely and totally left out of the loop. Nobody from Tipperary or from...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2019)

Michael Lowry: The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, would know Bord na Móna made a decision to cease its peat processing operations in Littleton, with the consequent loss of 120 jobs, which has had a devastating impact on the local economy and community. Subsequent to that, Bord na Móna announced the closure of a number of facilities in the midlands....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Nov 2018)

Michael Lowry: I raise the recent announcement by Bord na Móna that it is to accelerate the reduction of peat harvesting. This decision will wipe out a traditional industry with all its financial reward, rich history and tradition. The founders of Bord na Móna were people with outstanding vision and ambition who took creative, bold and courageous decisions. They dedicated themselves to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action Progress: Discussion (30 Jan 2018)

Michael Lowry: ...be operated. Professor FitzGerald mentioned land use change. Will he elaborate on what suggestions he has, what changes he is speaking about and what changes he would recommend? With regard to peat power generation and stopping the subsidy, our difficulty in Tipperary and the midlands is that communities have been built around it and there are jobs at stake. It would be important...

Leaders' Questions (11 May 2017)

Michael Lowry: ...that there first needed to be a renegotiation of the redundancy package. Second, we requested an extension to the closure date of April 2018. Third, we asked that an alternative use for the remaining peat be examined. Fourth, we asked for a plan for the utilisation of the existing bog, plant and facilities. A number of issues arise, one of which is the need to commence negotiations....

Leaders' Questions (11 May 2017)

Michael Lowry: Our first priority is to make the case for a time extension. A ready argument for this relates to the 260,000 tonnes of peat that are piled up at various points around the bog. The factory uses approximately 7,000 tonnes per week, which means that enough peat is available to keep the plant running for another 37 weeks. That should be possible, as should a third harvest. The redundancy...

Leaders' Questions (23 Mar 2017)

Michael Lowry: ...and commission a combined heat and power plant at the Littleton site. The trial at Littleton has been highly successful and made substantial progress. I hope its conclusions will show we can manufacture a biomass peat product and that this product, combined with investment in the combined heat and power plant, will secure the site's future. I ask that the Minister take this into account...

Leaders' Questions (23 Mar 2017)

Michael Lowry: ...Relations Commission and the Labour Court. This is a clear commitment that the workforce at Littleton briquette factory is committed to its future. Recently we have heard about a Bord na Móna review of peat production operations and briquette manufacturing factories. This has led to concerns and fears among more than 120 workers at the Littleton plant. Bord na Móna is...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Bord na Móna (13 Oct 2015)

Michael Lowry: ...between the board of directors of Bord na Móna and the company's staff and union representatives; that staff were not consulted before the recent announcement that Bord na Móna will end peat harvesting by 2030; if he has made specific inquiries or representations to the board of directors of Bord na Móna, as to the reason a full and clear consultation process did not take...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Peat Briquette Production: Bord na Móna (27 May 2015)

Michael Lowry: ...addressed are the PSO and biomass. We are told biomass briquettes are the way forward and Bord na Móna has its biomass project. Will the biomass be available for the production of briquettes or will it be directed to the peat power plants? Has Bord na Móna got a five-year plan for the Littleton briquette factory? I come from a place called Thurles, and over the years we have...

Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (15 Apr 2015)

Michael Lowry: ...can do and for which it can take responsibility. The first is the fact that, as the Minister of State said, Bord na Móna is no longer competitive. The reason its products such as briquettes and peatland products are no longer competitive is that they are subject to the carbon tax. That tax was introduced in budget 2010. Following discussions with the then Government I secured an...

Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (15 Apr 2015)

Michael Lowry: ...of permanent staff and consign them to financial hardship. There are no conceivable grounds for such drastic action by Bord na Móna. The company is profitable, making a profit of €50 million on its peat-production activity last year and an anticipated profit of €40 million in 2015. The Littleton plant itself is also doing well, with an estimated profit last year of...