Mullooly said he knows the success of cohesion funding, but said regional authorities tell him about the complexities and the administration and the burden that it places on them.

The EU Just Transition Area includes municipal districts in the counties Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath, Roscommon and the Municipal Districts of Ballinasloe (Co Galway), Athy, Clane-Maynooth, (Co Kildare) and Carrick-on-Suir and Thurles (Co Tipperary).