Fianna Fail TD Barry Cowen has called for Ireland to imitate Spain’s approach to dealing with fossil-fuel redundancies, in response to future Bord na Mona job losses.
Last week, the Spanish government, which only came to power in June, reached an agreement that saw €250 million set aside to support miners who lost their jobs, and to invest in the areas worst hit by the mine closures.
And now, Deputy Cowen has claimed that the Spanish plan is exactly what Ireland needs, as peat harvesting is phased out.
The midlands will be the hardest hit by the redundancies, and Deputy Cowen, a TD for Offaly, said that the circumstances of the industry scale-down are similar in both countries.
“The Spanish situation is very similar to that of the midlands. The numbers losing their jobs in Spain is estimated at just over 600. The expected Bord na Mona direct job losses are in the same range, with a similar number of indirect jobs in the region expected to be lost,” said Deputy Cowen.
“The deal covers Spain’s privately owned mines, and mixes early retirement schemes with environmental restoration work – in addition to finance to help re-skill younger workers for new and emerging industries,” he added.
The question, for me, is not how do we keep every single job, but how do we replace these jobs with well-paying, sustainable jobs that will keep our communities thriving and prosperous?
Deputy Cowen also claimed that, if a similar arrangement is put in place in Ireland, we could avoid the social fallout of major job losses, while still hitting our environmental commitments.
“The agreement in Spain demonstrates that it is possible to make progress on the Paris 2020 targets but without wholesale damage to communities and regions,” he said.