2026-04-29

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.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I will pass on his good comments in respect of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about what is happening in the midlands and the energy transformation that is occurring. Recently, I was in Shannonbridge myself with Hanwha Energy to launch the battery storage and the condenser, which is a very novel proposal. There is no doubt that the midlands is going through a very exciting transformation. It will have very significant potential for jobs and a modern economy for the midlands that will be quite telling in terms of its impact. There is no doubt that early plant closures created an unforeseen financial shock for both Offaly and Longford county councils. These closures happened earlier than planned. Shannonbridge power station and Lanesborough power station had been expected to close in 2027 but ceased operations seven years earlier. At the time, the just transition commissioner stated it would be extremely unfair for the local authorities to bear a sudden loss of commercial rates due to a decision beyond their control. He recommended emergency support arrangements for 2021 to 2026 to offset the unexpected loss. That has happened. A total of €15 million has been provided to date with €3 million committed for 2026. Engagement is under way to manage the post-2026 transition responsibly and reasonably. The good news is that Offaly's rates base is now strengthening significantly, particularly through renewable energy investment. Government remains committed to ensuring financial stability and service continuity in affected local authorities. I can go through the various figures and there is a breakdown there year after year but it is important that we avoid a cliff edge. We should try to marry the growth in the rate base because of additional investments with the decline from the historic power stations that were important. My understanding is officials are engaging with both local authorities and are liaising with the Department of public expenditure also to deal with the post-2026 period to ensure a reasonable wind-down of supports. For the benefit of the House, Shannonbridge power station represented 18.5% of Offaly's rate base at the time. That is very significant and needed an exceptional response. Commercial rates income has now increased in 2025 and 2026 because of the new wind farms entering the rates base. I pay tribute to Bord na Móna, which itself has transformed as an organisation to become a climate-enabling organisation. It has been a tremendous transformation and that does not ever get acknowledged because people are either saying we are not doing enough on climate change or others in the House are against any notion that climate change is even happening. Bord na Móna has been a very commendable-----

The Taoiseach's time is up. I call Deputy Clendennen.

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.

Absolutely. What I would like to see happening with the energy transformation that is occurring is the resetting of the investment profile for the midlands in terms of foreign direct investment coming to the midlands in greater numbers than it has heretofore. There are some significant plants around the midlands but there is potential for more. Given the link between energy, industry and investment, some significant companies are looking at the midlands. That is very positive news all around. There is a lot of untapped potential. Notwithstanding all of the global turbulence and challenges, I am reasonably confident we can continue the momentum. I take the Deputy's point. We want to maintain existing services. By the way, if you look across the board and take out just rates, the Government has been increasing contributions to local authorities on a whole load of fronts in the past number of years. On total funding overall, if you take the €46 million allocated in 2021, the Government is now allocating €64 million to Offaly County Council. That is a big increase.