Seanad debates

Thursday, 26 November 2020

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

10:30 am

Photo of Timmy DooleyTimmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Earlier this week, the Government announced over €100 million in funding for bog rehabilitation in the midlands under the just transition programme. The programme is aimed at addressing the very significant economic impact of the decision of the State to move away from the burning of peat as our contribution towards the reduction in carbon emissions. The decision to invest €100 million in the midlands is a good one. It is the right decision for the environment and for economic activity in the region. It is about ensuring the citizens of that area are not negatively impacted by the rest of us wanting to do right by the environment.

However, just transition is not just about the midlands. The west of County Clare, in fact a vast part of it, is badly affected by the reduction in emissions from the burning of coal at Moneypoint. Unfortunately, neither this Government nor the previous one has seen fit to include that area in the just transition funding. Employment has tumbled at Moneypoint in the last two years. There has been a gradual reduction in the number of contractors and ESB staff there. The plant is due to close in 2025 and successive Governments have said they will deal with it then, but the crisis in that area is happening now. Staff have lost their jobs. Some people have moved to work elsewhere and others have not succeeded in gaining employment. All the while, this is undermining small businesses, small shops, schools, post offices and general business in the area. The area is being hollowed out just as the bogs were cut away. What we need is an equality of approach to addressing climate change and to the spending of the just transition funding. The funding needs to be invested in County Clare, in my humble opinion.

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