Last year the Minister for Finance rightly acknowledged that midland communities felt threatened by the wind-down of Bord na Móna and the closure of ESB power stations in the region. He also stated at that time that it was the duty of Government to ensure that no cohort of citizens, workers, communities or enterprises were left behind by this disruption, a disruption that would hit midland counties like Offaly very hard. Unfortunately, however, following the decision taken by Bord na Móna last week to end peat harvesting and production, that is exactly what has happened. Communities have been left behind. This is especially true for all of those involved in the horticulture sector. They are left behind. The just transition commissioner, Kieran Mulvey, said it was likely to act as the final nail in the coffin of our indigenous horticultural industry. The commissioner also noted that we had solved one problem only to create an entirely new one, namely, that we would from now on have to import horticultural peat product rather than produce it ourselves.

There are echoes of the EU proposal from 2005 for the reform of the sugar industry. These were reforms that eventually destroyed the viability of sugar beet growing in Ireland and put 4,000 growers out of business. The problems now faced by the midlands are a direct result of the decision to escalate the so-called just transition process from ten years to a matter of months. This has guaranteed, contrary to Government commitments, that entire communities are being left behind.

Perhaps communities in Offaly might have been able to absorb this shock if it were not for the many other profound challenges they face at the same time. We have a forestry sector in bureaucratic chaos and we have upcoming EU regulations that will severely limit and in some cases destroy the capacity of agricultural merchants. We also have the Irish grain and feed industry about to be hit with unsustainable tariffs and levies. This amounts to a kind of death by a thousand cuts.

Will the Tánaiste ensure there is an immediate re-evaluation and impact assessment of the just transition process as well as a commitment from this Government to follow through on its stated aim of ensuring that no citizens, workers, communities or enterprises will be left behind? The people of Offaly and the wider midlands area deserve better and nothing less than that.

I thank the Deputy. I appreciate the extent to which the ESB and Bord na Móna were the mainstays of employment in the midlands and how important this is to Laois and Offaly in particular and the region as a whole. Where there is a just transition, it has to be not just for workers and former workers, but for the communities as well. Somebody may get a good package to retire or become redundant but the payroll loss to the town or community can have a huge impact, so we need to see it in the round.

Bord na Móna no longer has a licence to harvest peat. That has stopped and the Deputy knows why that is. That could impact on the horticulture industry and mushroom growers and we are looking for affordable alternatives for those industries.

In terms of what we can do around employment, the Deputy will be aware there is now a just transition commissioner and a specific fund that is being invested in the midlands, particularly because it is the area that is first to experience this transition. My Department will develop a new set of regional jobs plans which will include such a plan for the midlands region. We will put a lot of focus into that, making sure there are new employment opportunities for people in the area.

The Tánaiste did not answer my question. The just transition plan is falling apart. There is a meeting this week in the county council in Offaly with the just transition commissioner. It is falling apart and it is not delivering for communities. The Tánaiste is reneging on his Government's duty to ensure communities are not left behind. Instead, this Government is pursuing and prioritising vague, aspirational biodiversity priorities in place of those that are important, such as employment. We have a situation where people with mortgages and children to feed, clothe and educate are playing second fiddle to those aspirational biodiversity priorities that the Tánaiste and the Government have put first with little or no understanding of the midlands and counties like Offaly.

I ask the Tánaiste to re-evaluate this plan because it is not working, there is no confidence in it and it is not creating employment. People cannot remain unemployed while Government achieves its climate change targets. There is a better way of doing things and I believe climate change targets should not act as a veto on common sense, which is what is happening. There is a practical, fair and just way of doing things but the just transition plan is not working.

We need to act to stop climate change. If we do not, many more jobs will be lost through the climate chaos that would ensue. We need to think short, medium and long term when it comes to the trade-off between jobs and industry on the one hand and protecting our environment on the other. If we do not stop climate change, the impacts o Ireland could be severe on many of our industries, not least agriculture and tourism.

In terms of the climate actions we take, we need to ensure we do it in such a way that we do not see a net reduction in employment. That is what our plan is about. I think the just transition plan is a good one. I appreciate the Deputy may feel differently. It is funded with money from the carbon tax. To give one example, the bog restoration and rewetting programme is transferring people in Bord na Móna who would have been cutting bog and releasing CO2 into a new role where they are rewetting and restoring bogs, which makes them a carbon sink. I will take on board what the Deputy said and make sure the just transition commissioner and his team are aware of her comments.