Results 24,361-24,380 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I agree. We need transparency as well. There are all sorts of conflicting issues. The Constitution sets out the mechanisms for that. It requires Cabinet confidentiality. One of the officers who acts as protector of the Constitution is the Attorney General. Governments are bound to heed his or her advice on what delivers the constitutional protections that protect us all in the end. We...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: General Scheme of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2022: Minister for Transport (22 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: That is a matter for the MCIB. The Department does not get involved. Our job is to provide the policy context, resources and legal and legislative mechanisms.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Conservation (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: My Department is working with the Department of Finance, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland, the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund to develop a residential retrofit loan guarantee scheme. The scheme is part of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan and will be co-funded by the EU Recovery and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Fuel Poverty (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: On 13 December Government approved a new Energy Poverty Action Plan. The Plan is available on gov.ie and sets out the range of measures being implemented this winter, as well as key longer-term measures, to ensure that those least able to afford increased energy costs are supported and protected to adequately heat and power their homes. Effective ways of defining, measuring and tracking...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Ireland’s strategic approach to the Circular Economy is currently set out in the Whole-of-Government Circular Economy Strategy 2022-2023. Section 7 of the Circular Economy Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 (‘the Act’) provides a statutory basis for future iterations of the Strategy, and also requires that such iterations include targets aimed at promoting circularity...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Data (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: For the second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol (2013 to 2020), EU Member States contributed collectively to the EU’s emissions reduction targets by meeting nationally binding annual emissions reduction targets set out in the EU Effort Sharing Decision (ESD). These targets cover sectors outside the EU Emissions Trading System and Ireland has been fully compliant in every year. ...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Conservation (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The Government supports households most at risk of energy poverty to improve the energy performance of their homes through schemes administered by the SEAI. In 2022 this included the Warmer Homes scheme and the Warmth and Well-being pilot scheme. Delivering these free energy upgrades to low-income households and reducing waiting times is a key priority for Government. Demand for these...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Data Centres (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I am advised that during the period 2010-2021 EirGrid, the body responsible for developing and managing the national electricity grid, entered into 16 connection agreements for the purposes of data centre connections. However, no new data centres have been offered a connection to the grid since the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) published on 23 November 2021 the “CRU...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gorse Burning (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The Waste Management (Prohibition of Waste Disposal by Burning) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 were signed into law on 27 January 2023. The regulations extend the exemption for the burning of green waste generated by agricultural practices, which expired on January 1, 2023, for a further two-month period to March 1, 2023, and then re-opens the exemption for a further three-month period from...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Conservation (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan includes targets to retrofit the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B2/cost optimal and the installation of 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes to replace older, less efficient heating systems by end-2030. This represents one of the most ambitious retrofit programmes worldwide and is a core element of the Government's plan to reduce...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: At present, the waste management industry in Ireland relies, in part, on the export market to meet its processing needs for the volumes of waste packaging produced. While there is no EU or international waste code that facilitates PET data collection, several organisations collate data on different aspects of PET, plastic waste, recycling and exports. - The National Transfrontier Shipment...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Wind Energy Generation (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: In Climate Action Plan 2023, Government set an ambitious target of having an 80% share of electricity generation capacity coming from renewable sources by 2030. The Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) is one of the major Government policies to help Ireland meet that target. Wind is, by far, the largest contributing source of renewable electricity in Ireland, and is second only...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Water Pollution (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I have no function with regard to the policy or legislation in respect of single house wastewater treatment systems. This is a matter for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Fuel Oil Specifications (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 79, 118 and 144 together. The Climate Action Plan 2023 includes a range of measures to address the use of fossil fuel in heating systems in buildings and the National Heat Study contains the detailed analysis that is informing the development of options, policies and measures to decarbonise the heating and cooling sectors to 2050. The Study considered a...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2021 commits Ireland to a legally binding target of a climate neutral economy no later than 2050 and a reduction in emissions of 51% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels. Following the process set out in the Act, a carbon budget programme proposed by the Climate Change Advisory Council was adopted by the Oireachtas on 6 April 2022. On 28 July, the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Air Quality (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Data from our network of monitoring stations demonstrates that the measures we have taken to protect our air quality have been effective overall. Where periodic spikes in air pollution levels have been observed, they have been primarily due to the burning of solid fuel. The Environmental Protection Agency advises that such “spikes” occur primarily during times of certain weather...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Reviews (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The consultation on the review of the security of energy supply for Ireland electricity and gas systems was published on the 19 September 2022 and the deadline for responses was the 28 October. My Department received over 450 consultation responses from a broad range of stakeholders and these responses are providing valuable insights into the views of stakeholders which will assist in...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Prices (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Government is acutely aware of the impact that the recent increases in global energy prices has had on households and has prioritised action across Government to support people to stay warm and well through this winter. This is why a €2.4 billion package of supports was implemented during 2022, and a package of once off measures worth €2.5 billion included in Budget 2023. The...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I note the ESRI’s assessment of the embodied emissions in Irish imports and welcome the insight it provides. While Ireland’s climate policy primarily focuses on reducing production-based emissions in line with international accounting rules for national greenhouse gas inventories, it also considers the wider impacts of climate policy, including consumption-based emissions. The...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (28 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: While full and final emissions data for 2022 is not yet available, recent reports from the EPA and Eurostat have indicated that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2021 and may also have increased in 2022 as we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. While EPA models for projected emissions are unable to take into account all policies and measures which have been...