John Clendennen
Offaly · Fine Gael · Ireland
“I carried out a survey last year on foot of which 600 business owners highlighted the concerns they had around the future viability of their businesses. This has been built on by ISME, which found that 78% of respondents cited business costs as a big issue facing SMEs.”
“I have a number of asks. First, we need to look at the effectiveness of the local enterprise office, LEO, reporting to the local authority and Enterprise Ireland. There is a question there of effectiveness. I would also like to see the local authority leading out on enterprise parks to give opportunities for businesses.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter on the cumulative regulatory burden and the rising cost of doing business. It is certainly not an abstract issue. As someone born and raised in a family business, I am acutely aware of the challenges that many businesses face.”
“They are no different from newsagents or hardware stores where they are providing not just employment and economic activity but they are social anchors in our community as well. This scheme proposing a tax credit of €20 on every 50-litre keg of draft beer would be a huge tangible benefit to our local communities.”
“At that pace of increase in registration, we are going to see one of the strongest years ever in relation to company registrations. There is no doubt that Ireland is a great place to invest. We are seeing exceptional growth in artificial intelligence and digital technology, as well as pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.”
“It is Government recognition of the challenges and is very much welcomed, but we need to continue to address viability. When we look at some of the reports from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, in recent weeks, in which it has stated that more businesses need to consider switching, we note that this comes down to a lack of…”
The complete record
Every one of 253 lines we hold for John Clendennen, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 2 of 6.
“Incrementally, every year, such companies might add two or three more jobs until, within a decade, they are providing 50, 60 or 70 jobs. Such companies are key pillars of local economies. They are built up over time, have sponsored sports clubs and cultural events and are supporting their communities in many different ways. This is an important Bill. It cuts to where we need to be in terms of the objective of doing things in a simpler, lighter and faster way. It ensures efficiencies and that we can push on with our competitiveness. Every business owner wants a commitment from the Government that we will try to reduce red tape, bureaucracy and the cumbersome aspect of many online grant application forms.”
“We live in a period of significant geopolitical risk and we cannot take defence for granted any longer. Action in this regard is very much welcome. Whether it is a small or larger business, LEADER funding has been critical to the development of many micro-businesses, particularly in rural areas, over recent decades. If EU funding is lost as part of CAP negotiations, we need to find a new home in which LEADER funding can sit. It can give the impetus to ensure that where there are opportunities, particularly in rural areas, they can be followed up, materialised and go on to make a real, tangible and material difference in communities. Foreign direct investment companies and the jobs they bring to Ireland make the front-page news. Sometimes, we overlook and almost take for granted the level of employment provided by small businesses.”
“It is not just about generating commercial rates for the county; it is also about generating employment. It is important that we get the mix right. Enterprise Ireland, the LEOs and the county councils are integral stakeholders in leading this. Fundamentally, many businesses want to expand and diversify but the capital outlay involved in such an expansion plan makes the whole thing unfeasible. We need to see the likes of ISIF coming in as a financial pillar to support that type of growth. Measures to modernise and streamline our engagement with enterprise projects in defence, security and resilience would be welcome. This is a reality of the world we live in today. Twenty, ten or even five years ago, there was hardly a debate in this Chamber around defence. The reality now is it is front and centre in all our minds.”
“Establishing and investing in jointly owned subsidiary companies with third parties such as the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, would allow Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to work together to deliver critical industry and commercial property infrastructure. That is vitally important and it needs to be done on a balanced regional development basis. We cannot be all things to all counties or regions but we definitely need to establish key priorities for each region and each county. In my county of Offaly, we have a very ambitious plan for where we want to go with specific sectors. We want to ensure not only that we deliver for the county in that regard but, on the back of that, we see enterprise parks established in each municipal district.”
“External consultants are very much necessary. We cannot expect every business to have all the expertise under its own roof. External consultants are essential in giving advice. Sometimes, however, when consultants come to the table, they give all the advice in the world but they do not actually push the business on one inch. We need to figure out how we can integrate them more into the fabric of a business rather than just have them come in for half an hour or two hours of mentoring or whatever it is. There should be a responsibility or onus on them to come back six or 12 months later to see how the measures they put forward have been introduced to the business and whether they have resulted in effective change.”
“That is what the Bill does in its focus on sustainability, efficiency and emissions and also recognising the whole area of artificial intelligence and how it is playing such an important role in businesses today. Another area of action is accelerating decarbonisation. Looking at the grants that have been introduced in recent times, we can see an effort to ensure productivity and climate actions. It is important not just that we have the dashboard but that we report on this on a regular basis. Taking the example of local enterprise office grants, we can consider whether there are particular sectors that are ahead of others in the take-up of those grants and whether there is something we need to do to address a situation where there may be sectors lagging behind. That is something we need to monitor.”
“Ten years ago, we were talking about redundancies in that company and facing a cul-de-sac and an end of the line in terms of where it was going. Today, we are seeing innovation, progress in the whole area of renewables, digital technology advancements and the ecosystem all of that creates. We are seeing large multinational companies, but also start-ups that were former employees of the likes of Bord na Móna, taking advantage of this green opportunity. It is exciting but we need to be ready for it. I see this Bill playing an important role in that regard. Historically, grants were really about a company's turnover, how many more employees it was going to bring to the table and how much more activity would be seen in the village, town or area. We need to change the dashboard slightly in that regard.”
“When we talk about the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, it is important to also recognise the essential involvement of the local enterprise offices, LEOs, and the county councils. There is a shared ownership of our LEOs between Enterprise Ireland and our county councils. The work they have been doing has been commendable but we cannot take it for granted. This Bill in particular sets the scene in relation to legislative changes that are necessary in the context of the rapidly changing and evolving global economy to ensure that foreign direct investment continues on a balanced regional development basis. This morning I attended the Bord na Móna energy conference in Tullamore in County Offaly in my constituency. It was great to hear about a level of innovation that has seen the company go from brown to green in less than a decade.”
“This week the Minister, Deputy Burke, and I attended the AGM of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland. Whether they are butchers, bakers, candlestick makers or publicans, people are under real pressure in relation to energy, insurance, the cost of labour and making ends meet. There are proposals in relation to excise on kegs of beer that should be considered in advance of the budget. We have seen the benefits of enterprise supports, particularly green energy supports which are really helping business to transition at every level. It is important that we continue them and have a level of dynamism in our engagement with businesses. We need to make supports available without bureaucracy or a cumbersome approach.”
“As a TD for Offaly and someone who has spent a lifetime involved in small businesses and international businesses, I have seen the variance in what it takes at the smallest of business levels, where it can be very difficult to know where the next cheque is going to come from, in terms of payment, or whether there is going to be enough turnover at the end of the day to actually make things work tomorrow. That is a severe stress. There are small, microbusinesses that still deal with those issues and concerns today. One of the issues I have highlighted in recent times is that businesses today have to close for two days a week in order to be viable for seven days. We have to get to a stage where there adequate supports for them from an environmental and digital perspective, or whatever the case may be.”
“We now have more people in employment today than we had living here 50 years ago. We are an island that is at the heart of Europe and the centre of the world. If we look at our trading and relations with America alone, over 200,000 people wake up every day and go to work in Irish companies that have invested in the US. Where once that was one-way traffic into Ireland, with investment on these shores, we are now seen globally as a serious player in relation to investment, innovation and development. Long may that continue.”
“To get to the nub of the matter in relation to the Industrial Development (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2026, I will begin by acknowledging the work of the Government in relation to enterprise, tourism and employment in recent times. I welcome the constant references to simple, lighter and faster in terms of how we do business. We need to reflect that more and more in terms of what we see and in being competitive, not just in our domestic market but on the international stage and in how Ireland reflects itself right around the world. I listened to various contributions in recent days in this Chamber and heard Deputies comparing Ireland to the 1980s, a time of high interest rates and unemployment when people did not see a future on this island. We have moved on considerably from that.”
“I thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to speak in advance of Deputy Boyd Barrett. I hope I will be as entertaining. I want to welcome members of Daingean Development Association who are in the House for a tour and who may be in the Public Gallery at some stage today. I acknowledge the work they do consistently in the town. They have a festival scheduled for 14 June and anyone who might want to attend-----”
“Just last week, I was at Ballycowan Castle where a new accessibility biking scheme was introduced to make the most of the Grand Canal greenway. This could not be done without European funding, and just because we are moving from being a beneficiary to a net contributor does not mean that should be lost. We have to identify ways to keep those channels open and keep those revenue streams coming to areas that need it most.”
“As we move from being a net beneficiary to a net contributor in the European Union, we need to structure ourselves better to identify funds and allocations to continue on that pathway to support agriculture, infrastructure and foreign direct investment. I attended a public meeting in Tullamore last night about we move Offaly forward. We would resource an EU funding officer in local authorities to identify ways and means to maximise the effectiveness of those finances. We have made a lot of great progress in towns with the likes of the public realm, both with Government investment and European investment, and that needs to be continued. We also see the likes of just transition funding and what it has done.”
“We also need to ensure that Europe is not only economically robust but also secure and capable of protecting its citizens and interests, while also looking at the likes of the cost of living, which is a top concern for us here at home, and migration and housing. I will bring it closer to home in relation to the need to inform and educate the next generation of citizens. The Minister of State recently visited my constituency where we went to Sacred Heart and Coláiste Choilm in Tullamore to share the insight and inform students of the importance of Europe. We cannot take that for granted. We need to see more of that and investment in it.”
“Less than half of the respondents believe that the EU is moving in the right direction, with concerns about migration, EU regulation, and sovereignty. These are legitimate concerns and demand our attention. They remind us that the European project is not a static entity but a dynamic one that must continuously adapt and respond to the needs and anxieties of citizens. As a member of Fine Gael and of the European People's Party, I am proud to be European, but when we listen to those sentiments and concerns, we need to have a realistic debate and conversation about our defence and security and how we can co-operate with other member states.”
“That was a day when I had first-hand experience and a memory of solidarity with European counterparts that was beyond just being Irish. That has only grown today and we all have our own memories of how we are not just Irish but Europeans, and long may that continue. Other speakers have mentioned a study about European Movement Ireland. Overall it is relatively positive. Some 82% still believe that Ireland's membership of the EU is important. That remains strong and it demonstrates that despite the challenges of our time, the vast majority of Irish people recognise the benefits of European engagement. Looking deeper into the figures, we need to ensure that we listen, learn and act on some of the sentiments coming through.”
“Since Ireland joined in 1973, we have seen significant and material progress on our shores and across our country, whether it be development of our infrastructure, support and funding for our agricultural sector, access to the Single Market, or foreign direct investment through our gateway to Europe. I would strongly question whether we would have seen the foreign direct investment that we have had if we were not an important and integral member state of the Union. There is also the adoption of the euro. When the euro was adopted, I happened to be living in Switzerland. I remember getting in a car and travelling to Germany with one of my friends from Germany, Italy and France on a road trip to get a few euro notes just to say that we had them.”
“Over 70 years ago, Robert Schuman delivered his declaration that would change the course of European history. One of his key declarations was, "Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity." His vision was both bold and quite simple at the same time, to make war between larger member states not just unthinkable but materially impossible, by pooling their coal and steel production. The European Coal and Steel Community laid the foundations of what has become the European Union today.”
“I ask that the Government to consider the provision of supplementary funding for areas where there are long waiting lists. A 12-year waiting list is simply unacceptable.”
“In the first instance, I want to acknowledge the commitment of the Government to the local improvement scheme, LIS, which has made a real difference to the lives of rural dwellers since its reintroduction in 2017. This is a really important scheme for households, farmers and community amenities in the context of the maintenance and enhancement of access. The funding provided is not meeting the level of demand, however. Following a recent meeting with the area engineer in the Birr municipal district, Brian Keenaghan, I learned that there is a 12-year waiting list. These are applicants who will never benefit from public lighting or roads, but they need this. They are rural people who are willing to make a contribution and who are willing to pay in relation to this scheme.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I look forward to working with groups right across my constituency to ensure we can maximise delivery for us on the ground.”
“We have done nothing to address ticket touting. Where there is crime and where we see communities that have been affected by crime, we are taking the funds of criminals identified by the Criminal Asset Bureau and putting them into those communities that need them the most. We should do something similar in respect of ticket touting. We should go after touts by applying additional resources and ensuring that where they are identified, any funds are used to improve local facilities. That would be a productive service in supporting the likes of football. Where we are at in relation to facilities is that we have made an awful lot of progress but certainly need to do a lot more. I would welcome an announcement of sports capital funding.”
“That would be very much welcomed. There is also an added layer in respect of community facilities. In my constituency, Moneygall has a state-of-the-art playing pitch and has applied to the Department of Community and Rural Development for funding to develop a community facility that could also be a changing room. We have to look at multiple layers of joined-up thinking at government level so there is not just a reliance on sports capital grants and we do not put on the blinkers and go down a tunnel. Let us try to expand it and see can we look across all aspects of government to bring funding together so that we can maximise that impact and make sure it has a real significance across all sporting codes. I look at the facilities and see the impact. I then look at larger, high-appeal matches and see the prices for which tickets are going.”
“In my area, midlands soccer looked to come together to have a centre of excellence for schoolboys and schoolgirls to be able to play on multiple pitches but did not get planning permission. They are back to square one. They are already on the meter and are spending money that could have been put into lights, Astroturf or whatever the case may be. Instead, the money is going into bureaucracy. That should not be the case. We need to figure out how to work with such organisations to ensure their money is going directly to the sport rather than the bureaucracy along the journey. That is a matter we will have to address. We also need to look at multi-use facilities. I know this is something that the Government is referencing in the context of sports capital funding and that it is considering how we can bring multiple sporting codes together.”
“I welcome these statements. Football can be a cornerstone of our lives and memories. It can bring the goodwill to bring communities together. I think back as far as Italia 90 and the heartbreak caused by the likes of Schillaci and so on, and what they did to bring a nation to a stop and then break our hearts. More recently, in Prague, we thought we were on the cusp of achieving World Cup qualification. Some 1.6 million viewers tuned in for that game. That just shows how much interest there is in our national team. Our ladies have been doing us very proud. They won last night and I wish them the best of luck at the weekend. Acording to the FAI figures for the numbers of players and volunteers, there are 250,000 players and 80,000 volunteers, yet only 34% of females have access to a toilet and 10% have access to indoor facilities.”
“We really need to find a way of overcoming these challenges so that we can get on with very serious development. If that does not happen, we are still going to be here in a number of years talking about decades rather than years. This is very important legislation and I welcome it. We have to keep the momentum going and delivering this much-needed infrastructure when we have the funding and finances to work on it. I welcome and I fully support it.”
“In reality, we need to start that discussion now because every day that we can move away from a dependence on fossil fuels and develop our renewable infrastructure will reduce our dependence on it and have an impact on price. One area that has become an absolute minefield and disaster in terms of development is the use of climate compliance as an effective tool to hamper progress. Far too often, whether it is on a local authority level or in the judicial courts, we hear about snails, mussels and bats and how important they are. I have no issue with any of those, but when it floods a town or delays development from an economic perspective or delivery of an industrial site, housing development or water infrastructure, it is simply not acceptable.”
“On private energy investment, the feedback I receive from the regulators with oversight of energy in the country is that they are not working with private investors. They are not coming to the table and collaborating with them. We need to move away from this culture of what people cannot do to advising private investors and private developers of what they can do. If that does not happen, we are going to continue to see decades for a window of development. On the grid update, what we are doing with buildings that are put aside for PR 6 is very important. However, maybe separately, Deputy Devlin mentioned our reliance on gas internationally. We are essentially relying on international nuclear power from other states.”
“In terms of its importance, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has done exceptional work in this area, but we really need to apply urgency from all of government in this area. We have been to the fore on renewable energy in my county and we have delivered. We generated more energy in January alone than any other county. However, we cannot take it for granted that there will be continuous buy-in from communities in this area. Community benefit funds must be modified in order that they can leave a lasting legacy and are not just investing in the likes of jerseys and scoreboards in local sporting clubs. If that is not sorted out and clarified and wind energy guidelines provided, we are going to lose the people on this one. That is my concern. I ask the Minister and Government to prioritise this in relation to guidelines.”
“I see it across the board in my constituency, whether it is a library in Edenderry, a hospice in Tullamore or a primary care centre in Birr. We really need to change that attitude. We see today the need we have to think differently and innovatively wit the likes of modern methods of construction and abnormal loads. We have a conflict where local authorities are preventing abnormal loads and not building plans for roads to specification to accommodate them. That is something that has to be addressed with urgency. Other speakers mentioned and referenced energy. We saw what happened at the weekend. I understand the pain and difficulty and the challenges many have with the cost of living today. It is a real highlight and alarm for us that we now need to treat energy as critical infrastructure.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill as a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery. I welcome some of the initiatives the Minister has taken such as the introduction of an accelerating infrastructure task force and the work it is doing to try to ensure we highlight this at every single level. It is important we hold every public body to account on this and that there is co-operation. It is a major cultural shift, however, and I hope we can achieve that cultural shift because, in many ways, culture is intangible. It is immeasurable until we see delivery. Unfortunately and regrettably, in this country today, when we talk about infrastructure delivery, we talk about decades rather than years. That is simply unacceptable.”
“If there is going to be a potential void on the basis of LEADER being impacted - I do not want to look at this in a pessimistic way whatsoever - there is an opportunity from an EU perspective to resource funding officers through local authorities or local development companies to ensure we are maximising our benefit. A study probably needs to be done to make sure we are maximising what is available from Europe and see if there is more potential to be gained from it.”
“I thank the Minister. Previous speakers have mentioned the likes of town and village renewal and rural recreation development funds. In many cases it requires an input from the local authority and the community. The likes of the local development company also need to get involved to fund the initial feasibility plans or design plans to ensure the projects are ready to progress to the next stage. We need to ensure we try to protect LEADER as much as possible. We probably need to look at exploring how we can identify the likes of EU funding officers in each local authority.”
“It provides an opportunity to advance and I emphasise that this should remain front and centre through the CAP negotiations as we take up the Presidency of the EU. It is something that needs to be protected and maintained for rural development. The important part it plays cannot be underestimated.”
“I have seen at first hand, through applicants and through involvement in the LCDC how this initiative is so important to developing a county. I acknowledge Offaly Local Development Company for the work it has done to ensure the effectiveness of the programme. Offaly is one of the most counties in relation to LEADER. I also acknowledge both the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, for their visits this year to Moneygall Development Association and the Offaly Volunteer Centre where they saw the progress that has been made under the likes of LEADER. Offaly Search and Recovery has got a new boat and St. Brigid's Boxing Club in Edenderry has got new solar panels. This is a critical funding model for rural areas.”
“Sinn Féin Members need to get their act together and realise we need to work together in this Chamber for the best interests of this nation.”
“I recognise the significant billions of euro in investment the Government has committed to the grid. There is also the increase in allocation and eligibility of the fuel allowance and the backdating of it to January. When I talk about the national interest, I have to ask what Sinn Féin's purpose has been in recent weeks. Has it been to increase its ratings in the polls or is it genuine? I recognise the likes of the Social Democrats and Labour, which voted with the Government last night. However, Sinn Féin has proposed nothing in relation to the fuel allowance and has done nothing to support hard-pressed households in Northern Ireland. It has done nothing to get its calculations right. To come into this Chamber and claim a cost of €38 million per week when it was actually €3 million is irresponsible.”
“We need EirGrid, as much as anyone, to step up to the mark to ensure that investment in the grid is developed at an expedited rate. We need to engage with companies that want to invest, whether that is in further renewable energy development or data centres. I am not going to stick my head in the sand and think that we can just move on and let this data go elsewhere. We see tens of billions of investment in other countries, while we are missing an opportunity to develop ecosystems in places like Rhode Green Energy Park in Offaly. If we can get the planning permission sorted there, and if we can get companies to row in behind it, we can create an ecosystem of economic benefit and job creation in our local communities. I recognise the €1.1 billion the Government has put together already in relation to budget 2026 in the area of energy.”
“We want to see long-lasting legacy projects like community centres and swimming pools developed in towns and villages across the county. The Minister should use Offaly as a pilot. We are ahead of the curve. We are pioneering in this space to ensure we get it right for the rest of the country. In Offaly, coming from the bogland heritage that we have and the relationship we had with Bord na Móna and the ESB, we are proud of what we have done. We have stepped forward in the national interest. When I hear of companies looking to invest further in renewables, and they talk about the delays with EirGrid, the lack of response and the need to get it done faster, that should not be happening. We are in a state of emergency.”
“I ask the Minister to seriously consider a boiler scrappage scheme in the time ahead. Greater recognition for wood pellet stoves is another option that needs to be considered. I am not overlooking what the Minister has done in the whole area of deep retrofit grants, where the increased grants have been very welcome. However, they cause disruption, particularly to older people. That is where I would see something like a boiler scrappage scheme, wood pellets or HVO being an intermediary as we move to where we want to go with this whole objective. As I said, communities cannot be left behind from a benefit fund perspective. In Offaly, there is €50 million in the pipeline for a renewable energy community benefit fund scheme in the coming years. We do not want to spend it all on sports jerseys or scoreboards.”
“That is a total kick in the face for people who took a very ambitious step in recent years to ensure we could meet our ambitious targets. I ask that the wind energy guidelines be produced and published as soon as possible. With regard to home heating, I ask the Minister to look at measures like the blending of HVO, with a view to increasing that to a level that is sustainable and achieves our emissions targets, and also works for the sector, communities and homeowners. With regard to reducing our dependency on carbon fuels, I ask the Minister to look at a boiler scrappage scheme. There are hundreds of thousands of boilers that have been in circulation for ten years or more, and they are simply inefficient. Yes, the dream is to get everyone to an earth water heat pump or district heating but that is not feasible in many situations.”
“I recognise those schools like Tubber National School, the Sacred Heart in Tullamore and Coláiste Choilm, which made it to Texas and represented the county and the country so proudly. I also look at what we have done with regard to home energy upgrades. In the past five years, we have seen almost 5,000 homes across Offaly upgraded for home energy. This is a county where, in the last census, up to 50% of homes outlined that they had a dependency on fossil fuels. We are taking those steps. There is a step change in Offaly, and we are doing this in an ambitious way. However, we cannot leave communities behind. All too often, where we have designated spatial planning for renewables, we are seeing companies come in where we have not designated spatial planning.”
“Even today, in committee, we heard from some of the engineering representative groups that we need a greater level of funding for postgraduate courses so we continue to see a steady flow of new graduates in the engineering space. One thing that should not stand in the way of this development is funding. In recent years and months, I have dealt with schools that qualified to go to Texas for the world championship of VEX Robotics but they did not have the funding, and they had to go to local companies or the local authority. It should be a no-brainer. We should ensure there is a scheme in place where such a scenario arises. Where extracurricular activities and subjects are contested at the global level, we need to get behind those schools and classes, and ensure that Offaly is excelling at the highest level.”