Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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174. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the work of the midlands regional transition team; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20973/20]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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179. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the work of the midlands regional transition team; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20978/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 174 and 179 together.

As stated in the Just Transition Commissioner's Interim report, a transition team was established by Offaly County Council to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the acceleration of Bord na Mona's 'Brown to Green' decarbonisation strategy. The team was expanded to incorporate other impacted local authority areas to become the Midlands Regional Transition Team (MRTT). Its aims are to pursue funding opportunities and actions to mitigate the impact of BnM job losses, and to position the region to develop alternative forms of employment, attract investment and maximise existing opportunities. The Commissioner's report made a number of recommendations regarding the structure of the MRTT given the new disposition around Irish and European funding.

The MRTT led Stage 1 in the Just Transition Fund and registered over 150 applications. The MRTT secretariat has engaged closely with the START Team (EU Secretariat for Coal Regions) and has worked with them to develop a Midlands Regional Profile and is finalising an Employment and Skills paper. START and MRTT are jointly assessing and synthesising the inventory of submitted projects under the MRTT - START Stage 1 engagement process, and will prepare an 'action plan' for the Midlands. The MRTT secretariat is currently assisting my Department in evaluating applications submitted to the Just Transition Fund.