Offaly should get most support because worst hit by decarbonisation

Offaly County Council has made a detailed response to Ireland's Draft Territorial Just Transition Plan. This response is an important action by the Council as it could lead to significant projects getting kickstarted in the county.
Ann Dillon of the Council executive told a recent meeting that the transition to a sustainable and climate-neutral economy will require substantial investments across Europe. However, the transition is more problematic for places like the midlands of Ireland than for other regions. Therefore, the EU introduced the Just Transition programme, which is addressing the specific challenges in the badly affected regions such as Ireland's midlands as well as providing targeted support to these regions.
Ann pointed out that each member state of the EU must prepare a draft Territorial Just Transition Plan. The Irish draft TJTP was published on December 20, 2021 by the Department of the Environment.
The plan, she said, must be based on what the EU Just Transition fund regulations will allow.
The plan will unlock €84 million of funding from the EU Just Transition Fund and the Irish government will co-fund the EU's €84.5m up to an equivalent amount.
The East Midlands Regional Assembly is the managing authority for the JT fund in Ireland.
The EU must agree the territory and the Territorial Plan with the Irish government.
A government report highlighted that Offaly is the most affected county in the country because of the decarbonisation strategy and the move away from peat.
“Because Offaly is impacted the most,” said Ann, “therefore it should benefit the most. Offaly County Council will need direct supports to replace the loss of rates income. The fund must be directed towards sustainable investment and jobs.
“Offaly has 'shovel ready' projects of scale that meet the JTF criteria.”
Cllr Eamon Dooley congratulated Ann on her “comprehensive presentation. The Council has done its bit, now we must get the MEPs to do their bit. Since the 1980s the job losses in the peat industry in Offaly have been steadily ongoing with the result that thousands of jobs have been lost. We hope the JTF will mitigate this to a certain extent.”
Cllr John Leahy commented that West Offaly is the worst affected region in Offaly and therefore should get most of the funding.
Cllr Ken Smollen said a huge amount of homes in Offaly are still reliant on fossil fuels, perhaps 40% to 50% of homes. “Many of these families are put to the pin of their collar and could not afford the retrofitting scheme. It could cost from €20,000 to €70,000 to retrofit their home and they simply cannot afford it.”