Bord na Móna seek meeting with minister amid job fears

Workers at a Bord na Móna plant in the Midlands are seeking an urgent meeting with the minister for the environment amid fears the company could be unsuccessful in an application to keep the operation running.

An Bord Pleanála has been deliberating on the application for renewed planning permission at its existing Edenderry Plant in the Co Offaly town, in a case which has already been the subject of judicial review proceedings.

Siptu has claimed that if the application is unsuccessful, it could lead to up to 300 job losses.

The trade union has also signalled its concerns over the possibility that licences due for renewal in 2019 at two other peat-burning stations — in west Offaly and in Lanesboro in Co Longford — might also be in jeopardy, with up to 1,000 jobs at risk.

The Edenderry plant is run by Edenderry Power, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bord Na Móna. Amid looming greenhouse- gas emission targets, the plant has already switched to 35% biomass use, and is set to rise to 50% by 2020.

A stay on any decision is in place until next February and a spokesman for An Bord Pleanála said yesterday that no decision on the application was imminent.

Siptu sector organiser, John Regan, said employees were concerned and that any meeting with environment minister Denis Naughten would need to look at a “plan B” of alternative employment in the Midlands.

“In a worst-case scenario where the application fails the agenda we will meet him on is alternative employment for the Midlands,” said Mr Regan.

Regarding the wait for a final decision on the application, he said: “It has all livelihoods held in suspension.”

Meanwhile, Mr Naughten has secured cabinet approval that will start the process for the ratification of the Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Government yesterday agreed to seek the approval of the Dáil under Article 29 of the Constitution regarding any ratification of an international treaty.

If it is ratified, Ireland’s obligation will form part of the European Union’s overall commitment under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

The minister said that he was seeking full Dáil backing for ratification, claiming the wave of global momentum behind the plan was “unprecedented” and adding: “It is our children’s future and of vital national interest.”