Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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141. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps he is taking to vindicate the European Pillar of Social Rights in the creation of its just transition plan for the midlands as part of the just transition mechanism; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35010/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Programme for Government affirms the necessity for a just transition pathway to be found, which delivers alternative job opportunities to sectors and regions most affected, and ensures that vulnerable groups are helped, as transformative policies are implemented. The Government recognises that the transition out of peat in the Midlands is the first test of a just transition for Ireland, arising from an accelerated exit from peat harvesting in the area. As part of the EU Green Deal, the European Commission has proposed the establishment of an EU Just Transition Fund to provide support to the economies, people and the environment of territories facing serious socio-economic challenges deriving from the transition process towards the EU’s 2030 climate targets and a climate-neutral economy by 2050.

Investments by Member States under the EU Just Transition Fund must be underpinned by a Territorial Just Transition Plan, covering the period 2021 to 2027, which must be approved by the European Commission and implemented within the regulatory framework for the European Structural and Investment Funds as part of EU cohesion policy. Work on this plan has commenced in my Department, and this work will also be supported by technical assistance under the European Commission’s Structural Reform Support Programme.

As one of the European Structural and Investment Funds, the European Commission has proposed that programmes supported by the EU Just Transition Fund will, under the relevant EU rules, be subject to a number of horizontal enabling conditions to underpin the effective implementation of each Fund. In respect of each enabling condition, Member States will be required to demonstrate that programmes implementing the Funds contain appropriate mechanisms to ensure compliance, including by beneficiaries of funding, with specified requirements relevant to each enabling condition. Although the European Pillar on Social Rights is not specifically addressed in this context, these enabling conditions include:

- effective monitoring of public procurement;

- effective application of EU State Aid rules;

- effective application and implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; and

- implementation and application of the United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (UNCRPD) in accordance with Council Decision 2010/48/EC

In addition to future investment under the EU Just Transition Fund, the Government is committed to ensuring that financing is available through my Department’s Just Transition Fund, including up to €11 million in 2021, to fund innovative projects that contribute to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the Wider Midlands region, and which have employment and enterprise potential.