Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In the past week, the perception of the EU just transition fund and its capacity to act as a catalyst for economic revival in County Offaly suffered a fatal blow. Of the €18 million available in the latest round, Offaly, the county that without doubt has been hit the hardest and which has borne the brunt of job losses, at 53% of the job losses, got the paltry sum of €500,000 under just transition. As one can imagine, this has been greeted with great disappointment, frustration and anger. Only yesterday, Offaly County Council arranged a special meeting with all county councillors and Oireachtas Members. I attended the meeting via Zoom. I concur with what every councillor from all parties and none said, which is that County Offaly is not being treated fairly regarding what I call an unjust transition. I have always found it very difficult to buy into the concept of a just transition because I saw the damage that would happen when the Bord na Móna jobs went with no alternatives in place and a process that was flawed from the beginning because it was accelerated with no forward vision and no plan for the county. We now find ourselves in a situation where many viable projects were deemed to be unsuccessful . The applications were worked on by Offaly County Council chief executive Anna Marie Delaney and her staff. We spoke about this yesterday. It is not good enough that €500,000 has been offered to the county considering the damage that has been done to its economy. We need intervention, which is why I am raising the issue here. I am also bringing the views of the many county councillors from the Tánaiste's party, all parties and none who were present at the meeting. I am calling for the Government to intervene.

From the beginning, I have highlighted that I was very concerned about the just transition and I called for special recognition to be given to Offaly given that we were expected to carry the burden of 53% of job losses, which is massive. I have repeatedly argued that there is a clear and unanswerable case for County Offaly to receive the highest proportion of the funding from the just transition fund. Unfortunately, perhaps we should have seen the €500,000 allocation coming because in 2022, a spokesperson for the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, who represents the constituency, confirmed that Offaly had not been designated by the Government as the county most disadvantaged by the decarbonisation process. The Tánaiste only needs to speak to his county councillors and Bord na Móna workers to confirm that, unfortunately, Offaly is the most affected county and needs urgent intervention. I call on him to make a commitment that he will intervene in this matter because it is of the utmost concern and urgency.

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