Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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603. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the possible reduction in the number of jobs in Bord na Móna. [6851/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Bord na Móna is a commercial State company operating under the Turf Development Acts 1946 to 1998. While the matter raised by the Deputy is an operational issue for Bord na Móna and not one in which I, as Minister, have any direct function, I have been briefed by the management team at Bord na Móna on the company’s strategy which includes the long term objective of remaining a major employer, especially in the Midlands region.

To achieve this objective, it is clear that Bord na Móna must confront significant business challenges in the context of replacing peat with biomass and also the increasingly competitive and challenging environments across all of its business areas. I have nonetheless been assured by the Company that any restructuring in particular businesses will be carried out in tandem with a comprehensive process of employee engagement.