The time is up. Can I ask that the questions and responses be directed through the Chair? This across-the-Chamber argy-bargy is doing nothing for anything.

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.

I am not quite clear as to the Deputy's doubts about the just transition programme but it is an important programme. It is an essential programme to deal with what has been a decarbonisation agenda across the country but obviously with a particular focus on the midlands and Offaly, which have been at the frontier of transformation in terms of energy generation and the transformation of Bord na Móna, which has been very significant and will benefit Offaly in terms of the investment in Bord na Móna, which is quite substantial.

I think the Deputy mentioned the EU allocation. As she is aware, there has been far wider investment. I do not have a breakdown of the totality of investments around the area of decarbonisation in terms of investment in the community more generally in Offaly. There has been quite a significant degree of investment in Offaly and across the midlands under a range of Government investment programmes. Up to €22 million was available under the national fund by the end of 2024 while the EU fund will provide up to €169 million until 2027, so that is a longer-term transition for the region. That arises from the end of commercial peat extraction and peat-fired power generation.

I will certainly examine and reflect on what the Deputy has said. Just transition has to become just transformation because it is not just about the ending of certain types of economic activity. It has to be the creation of new very powerful alternative industries that can create alternative employment. I attended the offshore wind energy conference this morning. This country's performance when it comes to onshore wind energy - notwithstanding all of the objections - has resulted in thousands of jobs but also, critically, has resulted in Ireland being one of the most effective renewable countries with up to 35% of electricity at any one time being provided by renewables and so forth, so there is an economic agenda. I accept the Deputy's point that there is an economic need and those areas that are affected the most need the greatest levels of support and intervention. I agree with that and that has to be through a combination of national and EU funds. I do not have to hand the specifics of the applications made by Offaly County Council. I know Deputy Cowen has been a long-standing and very committed activist in respect of Offaly and the midlands more generally regarding this agenda. I will engage with the Deputies and the councillors from the area to examine this situation further.

I reiterate that there has been no proper sustainable job creation as a result of what happened. This process will not be seen as just by me and many others in the county until we can actually see jobs being created. Job creation will be highly dependent on the investment that comes in and the fact that we have only received €500,000 out of an €18 million pot is scandalous. It is a national scandal and it has to be looked at. We need this type of money to be able to create jobs. The applications that went in from Offaly County Council related to towns like Tullamore and areas like Shannonbridge and Rhode in north Offaly where there were projects that would create jobs. We are trying to work our way out of this mess while trying to move forward and create the jobs we so badly need in Offaly but if we are only given 3% of a funding pot, it is not acceptable. We need urgent intervention. I accept the Tánaiste's constructive response and thank him for agreeing to look into the matter but we need some urgency as well.

There is a national fund. I do not have the breakdown of the national fund in terms of its allocation to Offaly and other counties. I think Deputy Nolan is talking specifically about the €18 million that was available from the EU. There are obviously further allocations to be made from the EU fund because that fund will provide up to €169 million. The Deputy said €18 million has been allocated to date but there is €169 million, apparently, until 2027. Maybe some of the projects may not be ready for this particular allocation and may be funded through further allocations. I will examine the situation and revert to the Deputies from the region. I will talk to fellow Ministers about the issue because we want just transition to be effective and successful. We need to transform the counties that were affected the most by the removal of peat-fired power stations and so on. Most people in the region agree that they were never going to be the future but the area does require and deserve replacement investment and industries.