Results 1,381-1,400 of 2,066 for speaker:Joe Flaherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Provision for Older People: Discussion (10 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: It does, yes. It relates to the point I was making to Mr. Moynihan initially on the source of information. Mr. Reid obviously gleaned the information on the number living alone from the CSO. We need detailed work to drill into the statistics, reach out to people and determine what exactly they want to do. The Department officials, when they were before us earlier, told us this is part of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Provision for Older People: Discussion (10 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: As Deputy McAuliffe had to go to speak in the Chamber, our guests will have to contend with my dulcet Longford tones for the final few minutes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Provision for Older People: Discussion (10 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: I thank Deputy Ó Broin. Aon rud eile from Deputy Cian O'Callaghan? No. I will pick up on one point. The Department officials said that they are undertaking a review of the grants for the elderly and disabled. I am taking a leap of faith and assuming that neither Age Action nor any of the groups have been invited to make a submission or observations for that review.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Provision for Older People: Discussion (10 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: The Department officials are listening in so hopefully they will reach out. It would be important to get their input into something like that. Access to bridging loans for people to right-size was mentioned. That is a problem, and it is hard to pinpoint it. One option is the local authority housing loan, which could be tweaked to enable people to downsize if they want to do so. Is that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Provision for Older People: Discussion (10 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: I thank all the witnesses for coming in. This has been an informative meeting. We need to listen to the witnesses more. They are doing valuable work. Hopefully the Department will invite them to feed into that review, particularly with regard to bridging finance. The Department has an opportunity there and we are being too rigid in the implementation of the local authority loans.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: I thank all the speakers for coming in. It is like a lot of things in energy at the moment and we never start talking about the money so we will talk hypothetically. I have a 50 acre farm and I can connect to the grid and everything else. What is my return?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: Can we speak generally because that is what people want to know. The witnesses have given ambitious targets and said that we want to go to 6 GW but we need to start getting the message out there, even if it is in broad strokes, because it is a huge leap of faith for a farmer. The witnesses paint a rosy picture but it is a huge leap of faith for a farmer to make such a big transition. What...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: Let us say in the midlands; in the capital.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: Is that per annum?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: Broadly speaking, for my 50 acres I would get €50,000 per year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: One will still have the benefits of doing that farming. I know Lightsource bp is representing two different companies but is that the typical return that could be expected across the industry?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: That is good. The figure of 6 GW was mentioned and I ask the witnesses to flesh that out because it is slightly at odds with what the Minister has said. What do we need to happen to get to 6 GW?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: That probably comes to the next question. I refer to farms that the ISEA has optioned at the minute and where the farmer has gone through the process of getting planning permission and risen the ire of his or her next-door neighbours and everything. A number of farmers are asking me what the delay is and why the projects are not coming through. I know Mr. Bolger said that there have to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: I am finding that we are getting the planning but the developer says that companies are not following through on the grid application then. Is there a lag there?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: I am a bit wiser on that now. I know the sector is fast-moving, that it is getting huge efficiencies, that it is becoming much more productive and that it is probably becoming more financially rewarding. Have we come to a point, given the move towards offshore wind energy, at which solar has taken precedence over wind farms on land?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: What about in terms of current profitability for the operators? I know Mr. Bolger has a vested interested in solar, but would it be much more financially prudent for a body such as Bord na Móna? It went with the wind farm in Mountdillon, which was ultimately unsuccessful. As Mr. Bolger sees it, would solar be more financially rewarding for such bodies, given the efficiencies in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: Hypothetically. Let us say a site of 300 ha.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: I am conscious that others wish to speak. I am nearly finished. Deputy Carthy went into TAMS in some detail. I do not need the witnesses to go into this now, but perhaps they could email the committee bullet points about the changes they would want to see in this regard, particularly in respect of reform. I am sure they have already shared that with the Department. I would be keen to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion (4 May 2022)

Joe Flaherty: I wish to make a final point about direct line, if that is okay. Is there an issue if you go under or over a road with a direct line, or is that an old wives' tale?