Dáil debates

Wednesday, 27 May 2020

Covid-19 (Communications, Climate Action and Environment): Statements

 

1:30 am

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It was an issue over a seven-year period but, as I said, we are trying to bring that back and accelerate it. We will work to try to deliver that.

The only element that has nodes picked out is the interim offering we are making in the course of this year. It is a flavour of what is to come. We will light up, not with fibre, but with high-speed broadband 150 Mbps capacity and some 270 broadband connection points. Those points have been selected by local authorities and are in every county. They have been designed and selected to have that sort of hub capacity in them. They have been surveyed and solutions have been found for most of them. The Department of Rural and Community Development, which is the Department of the Minister, Deputy Ring, has done the contracts so they will be kitted out. Not all of them will have the same capacity as others to be a hotspot. It will depend on their makeup and so on. They have been selected on that basis to make an impact.

The Deputy is right that the whole issue of carbon and land use is very complicated, and measurement is a difficulty. As the Deputy will know, unfortunately Ireland's land use overall is emitting carbon and is not absorbing carbon. We are in a negative in that regard because of the drainage and the management of certain lands and how we manage various activities on the land. Currently it is not positive and is a negative. I agree with Deputy Harkin that we need to try to get recognition for the work we put in now to repair, rectify and improve that land use for sequestration. Much of that is about forestry and some is about rehabilitating bogs like what we will do with Bord na Móna. Currently we do not get recognition in the immediate term. We could plant to our heart's content, but we would only get recognition for it from 2030 onwards.

With regard to the LNG terminal, I have always said that we would not support it until a security evaluation is done. I believe policy is moving on and people recognise LNG will not have a place, but that is a matter for a Government to decide on.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.