The Finance Minister has used today’s Budget to announce a fund to help those who lose their jobs on account of climate change, but failed to mention Moneypoint or West Clare while doing so.
The 31 million euro Just Transition Fund aims to mitigate the impact of climate change on communities, and today Minister Donohoe stated that supports would be targeted at the Midlands where there is to be a significant decline of production by Bord na Mona.
But there was no mention of West Clare, where the scaling back of operations at the coal-powered Moneypoint Power Station has led to over 100 job losses.
There are already calls on the government, including from Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley, for West Clare to be included in any Just Transition Fund.
This afternoon, Clarecastle Fine Gael TD Joe Carey says he’s been informed that Clare will be eligible for some of the funding
