97. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to publish the most recent economic impact assessment of the Just Transition process, including job losses, projected job creation, and the net economic effect on County Offaly. [66500/26]

The National Just Transition Fund (NJTF), established in 2020, supported 56 local and community-led projects by providing over €16 million in total grant assistance to support the transition to a low carbon economy across six categories, including new enterprise hubs, supporting local business development, research and exploratory studies, tourism and heritage projects, and opportunities for reskilling. The National Just Transition Fund closed in 2024.

In total, 183 direct jobs had been created by NJTF projects upon their completion. The Fund was not designed solely as a job-creation scheme, as it also sought to protect existing jobs through the creation of remote-working and business hubs, and to sustain the social and community wellbeing of affected communities more generally. Further information is available in the Ex-Post evaluation of this fund which is available on my Department's website.

The EU Just Transition Fund (EU JTF) aims to address the employment, economic, social and environmental impacts that come with the shift away from carbon-intense activities. In Ireland, the EU JTF is focused on the wider Midlands region which has been impacted by the move away from peat production and electricity generation from peat.

The EU Just Transition Fund 2021-2027 Programme represents a total commitment of €169m to the Midlands as Ireland’s designated just transition territory, incorporating €84.5 million national and EU co-financing. The EU JTF aims to enhance the Midlands region as a place to live, work, invest, and visit through targeted investments in tourism, infrastructure, environmental rehabilitation, sustainable transport, and the bioeconomy.

Ireland’s Just Transition Programme was informed by its Territorial Just Transition Plan (TJTP), which was developed in 2022 and amended in 2025. The Territorial Just Transition Plan sets out the priorities and intentions of Ireland’s EU Just Transition Fund Programme (2021-2027) and is provided as an attachment with this response.

In turn, the TJTP was supported by evidence provided through five independent expert reports: three developed by The Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP); and the two produced by People and Place which are available online on the gov.ie page for the EU JTF.

While the TJTP does not directly assess the employment prospects in County Offaly, it notes that while approximately 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in the peat industry were lost between 2019 and 2021 due to the cessation of peat as a source of electricity in the Territory, a large proportion of those impacted have been redeployed with Bord na Móna aiming to create 1,435 jobs by 2026.

The TJTP also note the positive impacts of the National Just Transition Fund (NJTF) EDRRS scheme, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the EU Life Fund in assisting the transition in the Territory.

Territorial Just Transition Plan