Results 20,881-20,900 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Air Quality (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: My Department and the Local Government Management Agency are continuing to work together on a full business case assessment of the Local Authority air quality enforcement sector to scope out the resource requirements that will ensure that the most appropriate and effective enforcement structure is put in place. This is with a view to supporting the provision of enhanced...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Change Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Question Nos   119  , 106     and 118  &#x a0; together. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2021 was commenced on the 23 July 2021. Section 16 of the Act requires each Local Authority to prepare a climate action plan, specifying the mitigation and adaptation measures to be adopted by the Local...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan 2021 commits to the completion of a public consultation on the potential introduction of a renewable energy obligation in the heat sector. The public consultation was carried out in Q4 2021 and my Department is working through the responses, various technical queries arising as a result of the consultation and relevant findings of the recently published...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Conservation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan and National Retrofit Plan set ambitious targets to retrofit the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating of B2 and to install 400,000 heat pumps in existing buildings by the end of 2030. These targets represent a very significant increase in both the volume and depth of retrofit activity in Ireland. The Housing for All plan commits to the retrofitting...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Change Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan 2021 envisages the public sector leading by example the necessary climate action required in wider society to reduce Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions by 51 percent by 2030, and to become climate neutral no later than 2050. The Government-funded Public Sector Energy Efficiency Programme, administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Wind Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan 2021 commits to the achievement of up to 8GW of onshore wind, up to 2.5GW of solar and at least 5GW of offshore wind by 2030 and includes a suite of actions to realise the potential of Ireland’s renewable energy resources. Matters relating to grid investment are operational matters for EirGrid and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). Under the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electricity Transmission Network (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Celtic Interconnector is an electricity interconnector jointly proposed by EirGrid and the French Transmission System Operator, RTÉ (Réseau de Transport d’Électricité). It is proposed as a 575km long, with 500km of this being subsea, 700MW cable connecting the north-west coast of France to the south coast of Ireland. At this scale it would be able to provide...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Radon Gas Levels (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Radon gas is recognised as a serious threat to public health and estimated to be responsible for approximately 350 cases of lung cancer annually in Ireland. In response to this issue, the Government established a National Radon Control Strategy (NRCS). The Strategy is now in its second phase covering the period 2019 to 2024.  Implementation of the Strategy is overseen by an...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan 2021 outlines indicative renewable energy targets of up to 8GW of onshore wind and 1.5-2.5GW of solar by 2030. Of this, 500MW is targeted to come from Community-based projects. Community supports under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) will be key components of delivering on this ambition. The RESS is an auction-based support scheme which...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I recently announced the provisional results of the second RESS auction (RESS 2) which is expected to deliver approximately 414 MW of onshore wind and 1,534 MW of solar energy, a potential increase of nearly 20% in Ireland’s renewable energy generation. According to the International Energy Agency there has been significant inflation of input costs for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I understand that the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage (DHLGH) is currently in the process of making revisions to the Planning Regulations to support greater installation of solar panels, which includes the undertaking of a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the revisions to the exemptions for solar installations. This is due to go to public...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Official Engagements (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan 2021 commits to engaging with young people through the National Dialogue on Climate Action (NDCA) which has been established under my Department to engage, inform and empower everyone in society to address climate change. In 2021 we engaged young people in the Climate Conversations through the Comhairle na nÓg network. In February 2022, in partnership...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Inland Fisheries (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: It is important to note that the allegations raised in the Seanad and in a number of media reports, including those relating to insurance for vehicles in the Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) fleet have been previously considered and addressed through, inter alia, the former Chair’s statutory Statement of Internal Control and audit reviews.  The Statement of Internal Control is part...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: In line with the commitment in the Climate Action Plan 2021, a District Heating Steering Group has been established to resolve barriers to expansion of district heating. The District Heating Steering Group has met four times since its establishment in February 2022 and it oversees a number of Working Groups that are conducting in-depth, solutions-based analysis of the key areas...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I remain committed to introducing new regulations on the use of solid fuels for domestic heating in Ireland as announced last September. These regulations will introduce minimum quality standards that will apply across all solid fuels, to ensure that the most polluting can no longer be made available on the Irish market and to assist the public in transitioning to less polluting alternatives....

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Policy Statement on the Importation of Fracked Gas was approved by Government and published in May 2021. The policy statement provides that, pending the outcome of a review of the security of energy supply of Ireland’s electricity and natural gas systems, which is currently being carried out by my Department, it would not be appropriate for the development of any LNG...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: In line with the commitment in the Climate Action Plan 2021, a District Heating Steering Group has been established to resolve barriers to expansion of district heating. This Steering Group will ensure that there is a robust governance framework put in place for district heating, and it will also bring forward recommendations for an optimum regulatory framework,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Inland Fisheries (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 130 and 134 together. I have initiated a review under Section 18 of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 (which section is entitled, ‘Removal of Members from Office’, ‘Members’ being members of the Board).  The provisions of section 18 are very specific and the review relates to issues raised in correspondence between my...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: There are two existing UK/Ireland treaties, or intergovernmental agreements, relating to the natural gas interconnectors from Scotland to Ireland.The two intergovernmental agreements were drawn up in respect of the construction and operation of the undersea gas interconnector pipelines between Scotland and Ireland that came into operation in 1993 and 2002 respectively. The intergovernmental...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Citizen engagement is central to Ireland’s offshore renewable energy transformation. The Maritime Area Planning Act (2021) establishes a new planning regime for the sustainable development of our offshore resources and it provides that public participation is a priority in plan and policy-making and in the assessment of  development proposals. In accordance with the Aarhus...