I would like to raise the whole area of commercial rates for County Offaly and the funding of it. In December 2020, a planning application for Shannonbridge power station - the Taoiseach recently visited Shannonbridge - was refused. It would have been a transition to biomass. It left a serious void in the local revenue of the county council of €1.7 million. In fairness to the Government, it stepped into the breach and we have seen its support every year for the past six years. This support is about to finish at the end of December and is essentially a cliff edge for County Offaly in terms of revenue. I am calling for a tapering to be considered in relation to the phasing out of that support. Before I get into further detail on that, we need to recognise County Offaly has been on since those very dark days at the end of the previous decade and early in this decade. We have been identified under the EU just transition programme as the county most impacted by just transition. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, in fairness to him, is going a very good job and was in Offaly on Monday. Right now, we have 2 GW of renewable energy in the pipeline in County Offaly alone. To put that in perspective, last November we surpassed 2 GW nationally in relation to solar power generation. Our ambition and objective for the entire county of Offaly, with 2% of the land mass, is 2 GW. We are on a transition and unfortunately our transition has not gone in pace with the current financial commitment that is there. That is why I am asking for further support today. What I would see in terms of a potential tapering is that we would look at four years in the range of €3 million to €3.5 million. It would give us the scope to further explore the possibility of identifying space for enterprise parks and shared sporting campuses and to ensure the placemaking part we need for tourism and film and creation in the county can be achieved. We have been diversifying. We have become a leader in relation to energy but I ask the Government not to take it for granted. We have shown serious leadership here and it needs to be recognised. I am calling for this support in relation to the number of years ahead. It is important to also note that this will give certainty to the county, going forward. It will ensure that we have that infrastructure and that support from a commercial rates perspective and a community benefit fund perspective, all while reaching towards that national goal of reducing our fossil fuel reliance and reducing our carbon emissions. That is my ask. I ask the Taoiseach to give it serious consideration. I have been engaging with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and I appreciate his efforts in relation to this but I really want to emphasise the importance of it.

Sentiment score: 0.22

I met with Bord na Móna and Amazon at the official launch of Derrinlough with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on Monday to see a €150 million investment that will deliver a €12 million community benefit fund and multiples of that in commercial rates. What I am looking for here is not a hand out but a hand up as we continue with that transition. We are on an exciting trajectory. We have the energy in place. We are now looking to pursue that whole digital and tech sector. I have no doubt that with the vision of Offaly County Council, members and executive, having secured the energy progress we have and the engagement we are having with the digital and tech sector, there will be a further flow of jobs. We are definitely on the cusp of huge opportunity but we cannot take anything for granted at any step of the way. That is where we need support. I ask for the Taoiseach's commitment that Government will provide it.

Sentiment score: 0.33