Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ambassador Cronin and our MEP colleagues, Billy Kelleher and Seán Kelly and, in particular, my party colleague, Grace O'Sullivan, whose seat I was most fortunate to take in the by-election following her election to the European Parliament.

I want to address the subject of the EU just transition fund, which we are finalising and will submit to the Commission very soon. I take this opportunity to remind the MEPs that the most northerly county in their constituency, County Offaly, is one of those counties most challenged by our economic decarbonisation. This is not conjecture; it is fact. It has been widely and well documented, most recently in the Indecon report 2021. I am asking that the MEPs do everything in their power at this final stage to ensure the just transition submission reflects the special case for Offaly, as has been widely highlighted to date. I would welcome their support on that.