Brian Stanley questions distribution of Just Transition funding

The issue I am raising with the Ministers is in relation to the transition funding that came from the European Union and the £16 million that comes from the State, the distribution of that. I have concerns about it. It is supposed to be for the former peat harvesting areas. Under the EU funding it is designated as the coal regions and the case was made for funding for the former peat harvesting areas like the Midlands that are affected by it and County Leash is one of those. I am delighted there are two Ministers here to address it because I have questions around it. I know from previous Oireachtas here you have shown a great interest in this particular area and one which you really did champion over that time. In total over £29.2 million under the EU Just Transition Fund has been allocated to projects that are fully or partially based in County Leash and of this about £3.6 million has been approved for projects underway solely within County Leash, while over £25.6 million has been approved for projects across several counties including County Leash. I will provide to you Deputy with a full breakdown of those allocations in tabular form including details of the recipients, the projects and the amount of support allocated. We will provide that to you afterwards in the format. The diverse range of projects being supported include Emo Court and estate development, sustainable tourist accommodation in the Forum in Mount Melick and the development of Canal Road Business Park in Port Arlington and the Poets Cottage Community Cafe in Cam Ross. All information on projects under the EU Just Transition Fund is publicly available at the Beneficiaries section of the Eastern and Midlands Regional Assembly website. We will provide the details to you in tabular form afterwards. The National Trust Transition Fund closed in December 24 and disseminated no funds over the course of 2025. The Minister keeps the operation of the fund under review including consideration of future calls. I have a record here of the projects that I got it and the concerns that I have around this is that the area's worst effect they did not get it, it was not targeted at them. There is money allocated to Leash County Council for tourism, that is good. Emo Court, that is good as well, it is in the middle of the county. The Junction 17 business park, a million euros, that is good news, and the Poets Cottage in Cam Ross and the 1 million euros for the business park in Port Arlington. That is all good. But really some of this went to derelict pubs that are in areas where no burden among workers came from. I am talking about towns like Mount Trat, Mount Melich, Burris Nostri, Burris Nostri, Burris Nostri, the Abeliex area, there has been no funding going into projects in that area. The public and the former Board of Moana workers and families are asking me where is the benefit from this money, £185 million in total, that is the question that has been asked of me as a public representative and I do not have a good answer for them. Well I have an extensive list here Deputy that I can share with you, and I am happy obviously if there is a necessity to meet with some of your constituents in relation to their concerns, but this was a call led approach, so it was dependent on projects being brought forward seeking funding. It was not as if the Government identified specific locations and sought to create a demand around that, the programme was there, the calls went out for applications for funding and they were assessed against the criteria during the course of that, but if you have specific concerns in relation to areas of course we will be happy to meet with you and attempt to work through that for you. Thanks Minister, the concern I have here is that there is 185 in total, there is a reply to a previous PQ that I got, shows that there is around £93 million spent, now that is about a month old that PQ question and the reply to it, there is £93 million spent, so we are about 50% of the way, and what I am saying to you here is that the feeling that I get as well from people who have been showing interest in this is that it is being rushed a bit, and what I would say to you is that if we are half way to spending the money, it is a lot of money, that they remain in £90 million or so, or £92 million, we need to be careful where that is spent, and I would ask that your department and yourself Minister, that you would take an interest in this, and you know, if we have to slow down the process, we can slow down the process, perhaps there are deadlines from the EU that have to be met, if there are maybe you can clarify that with me, but if there is not I think we should just pause and take it easy, and make sure that the money, it goes to good projects, but I am particularly want to highlight to you, there is only £3.6 million gone to specific projects in Leish, out of £185 million, only £3.6 million according to the PQ replies, and that is a very small amount for a county that was badly affected, towns like Mount Drath, Mount Melich, Burris and Ostry, the Abbey Leaks area, where there is a lot of former Bordemona workers, I worked with a lot of them, you know, Mount Drath was very badly hit. In fairness, you have always made those points, and I appreciate your interest in this, but Minister O'Brien there launched a public consultation on the development of Ireland's social climate plan last Thursday, and the plan will set out measures to be financed under the EU social climate fund over the period 26 to 2032, so the EU social climate fund is the first EU fund developed with the explicit purpose of alleviating potential energy and transport poverty occurring from the transition towards clean mobility and decarbonised built-in environment, and there may be some opportunities in that for you to focus on, but as I said to you Deputy, we are trying to ensure that the funds that are available meet the absolute needs of those that were impacted greatest as a result of moving away from the harvesting of peat in your region, and you have identified some areas, and of course it is in the interest of the government, of course, to work with those communities that are most affected to ensure that that transition is as seamless as possible, and that is a big statement, because no matter what you would do, there was going to be significant impact on those communities, and I do want to recognise the efforts that many of those have made to try to assist, but if there are other projects out there that are viable, or if there is assistance required, please share it with us. Thank you.