Results 2,021-2,040 of 4,573 for speaker:Brian Leddin
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: It is very interesting to hear that. I thank Mr. Somers and Deputy Devlin.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: That is probably a question for next week.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: That is probably for Mr. Deegan and his officials.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: The other side of planning is transport and the role of local authorities in transport emissions. Local authorities make decisions about active travel networks, new roads and so on. Will the climate action plans for local authorities capture transport? Can the witnesses answer that now?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: There may be a few hundred kilotonnes of emissions in the jurisdiction of a local authority in Limerick. The target looks to reduce them by 50%. Will the local authority, via the climate action plan, have responsibility for reducing transport emissions?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: If they do not, who does?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: It has to be distilled to a local level. If the sectoral target is to reduce 12 megatonnes to 6 megatonnes by 2030, is it enough to say we will transition a certain number of vehicles and public transport journeys or are local targets needed to do so? Can those local targets be given to local authorities? They can do many things that would change behaviour and patterns in their area....
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: I accept Ms Corcoran's answer but it brings to mind Senator Pauline O'Reilly's question as to whether they will be responsible for the planning decisions they make and the carbon emissions associated with those. How do you make the local authorities take responsibility? It is a pretty big question.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: I am not sure if the local authorities are really switched on to what we think they will need to do. We will ask them next week, when they come in.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: That is for County Laois?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: We will have a look at that. It is a big question. Central government can only do so much. If it is not being taken seriously at local government level, then we will not hit the targets.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: Is this Fine Gael policy, Deputy Bruton?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: Some Green Party people got into trouble for suggesting the same thing a few years ago.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: Next is Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, who is also interested in the birds.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: I will address one final question to Mr. Somers. He touched on it already and it concerns the constraint imposed by the state aid rules. If I heard him correctly, the rules might constrain the scaling-up of the community energy sector. Will Mr. Somers talk us through this to allow us to understand exactly what is meant in this regard?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: I thank Mr Somers and that explains it. On the 500 MW, the climate action plan is revisable every year so if we are off ,track we can get back on track. Does the constraint of state aid rules apply to the 500 MW mentioned? I know that it is not up to that level on the RESS but are we constrained by the European Commission there?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Empowering Local Government and Local Communities to Climate Action: Discussion (24 May 2022)
Brian Leddin: That is a fair point. I believe that is all the questions we have. I thank our guests sincerely for coming in and for such thorough answers. I am aware that we ranged across different areas and there were plenty of questions that were not related to the agenda but we will let that go this time. I also thank members for their contributions and input. I believe we have three more...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Prices (2 Jun 2022)
Brian Leddin: I endorse and echo Deputy Hourigan's comments. This is a matter we should be examining. Regarding district heating, we must get the planning right in this regard. Under the national planning framework, the population of our regional cities is set to increase by 60% in the next 20 years. We talk about the need to plan that increase in population around the provision of sustainable...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)
Brian Leddin: We are right to talk about data centres and LNG, we must manage the data centres, and I do not believe that we need to build any LNG infrastructure. The Minister is correct in that there is a better way forward. However, we should not ignore the fact that electricity generation accounts for just about 15% of our emissions. The real challenge with carbon emission is in transport and...