Results 3,161-3,180 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (8 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: My Department does not have any employees who currently work for the national minimum wage.

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (8 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: In the time available, it has not been possible to identify and assemble the information requested by the Deputy. My Department is in the process of identifying and assembling the information and I will revert to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Alternative Energy Projects: Alternative Energy Projects (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 378 and 384 together. My Department administers the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (REFIT) programme, which supports the construction of new renewable energy powered electricity generating plants including wind-powered and wave-powered plants. Wind energy technologies are well developed and the dominant technology in the REFIT support programme and its...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: The decentralisation of the Central Fisheries Board (CFB) under the Government's Decentralisation Programme involves the relocation 62 posts to Carrick-on-Shannon. To date, none of these posts has been decentralised but I can advise the Deputy that 35 staff have been assigned to posts that are relocating. Property solutions are being pursued in respect of my Department and its agencies as...

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: The provision of telecommunications services including broadband is, in the first instance, a matter for the private sector. Broadband service providers operate in a fully liberalised market, regulated, where appropriate, by the independent Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg. The widespread provision of broadband services continues to be a priority for the Government. In that...

Written Answers — Alternative Energy Projects: Alternative Energy Projects (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: The details of windfarms currently connected and those that have received connection offers are shown in the table on a county by county basis. The amount of electricity generated in Ireland from renewable energy sources has increased significantly in recent years as follows: 5.2% in 2004; 6.8% in 2005; 8.6% in 2006; circa 9.3% in 2007. The actual output from any individual wind farm is not...

Written Answers — Alternative Energy Projects: Alternative Energy Projects (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: There are no wave-to-electricity projects commercially operating in Irish waters at this time. The harnessing of ocean energy remains in the research and development phase. The Ocean Energy Strategy which is being advanced by the Ocean Energy Unit located in Sustainable Energy Ireland, is designed to ensure that Ireland's wave energy potential is realised in full.

Written Answers — Official Travel: Official Travel (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: No representatives from my Department will be visiting Bejing, in an official capacity, during the 2008 Olympic Games.

Written Answers — Departmental Publications: Departmental Publications (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: In the time available, it has not been possible to identify and assemble the information requested. My Department is in the process of identifying and assembling the information and I will revert to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, is, in the first instance, a matter for the private sector. Broadband service providers operate in a fully liberalised market, regulated, where appropriate, by the independent Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg. The primary role of the Government is to formulate regulatory and infrastructure policies to...

Written Answers — Alternative Energy Projects: Alternative Energy Projects (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) has recently published reports on Hybrid Electrical Vehicles and Battery Electric Vehicles. These reports address potential measures that might be used to stimulate uptake in Ireland and make a series of recommendations with regard to how this might be best achieved. These provide a useful template for the way forward and I have asked my Department to work...

Written Answers — Alternative Energy Projects: Alternative Energy Projects (9 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: My policy objective in relation to biofuels is to ensure the necessary conditions and framework for sustainable biofuel production and use which enhances security of energy supply, contributes to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to our overall ambitions for renewable energy in transport. Emerging concerns about the environmental sustainability of current biofuel...

National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: I am sharing time with the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I very much welcome this debate, as it is an opportunity for us, the political leadership of the country, on all sides, to explain to the people what is happening, how we can get out of it and the solutions we can provide. Let us be absolutely honest and clear that we are facing into a real economic storm....

National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: To take a broader perspective, what has occurred in the past decade is that there have been massive efficiencies in China and India which started to produce our goods for us at a fraction of the cost. This brought down inflation across the developed western world which, in turn, allowed central banks to lower interest rates, not just here but also in America, Britain and elsewhere. This led...

National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: ——Florida, England, Spain and Ireland. That was a fundamental flaw in the international system. Let us be honest, we were all caught up in the property crisis; we opened our newspapers to see nothing but property advertisements.

National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: One could not turn on the television without seeing a programme on how to buy an apartment in the eastern bloc. That is the reality. It was also tempting to provide housing. Every local authority was counselled to rezone as much land as possible and to build as many houses as it could. "Lend as much as we can" was the philosophy of the banks and on all sides of the House no one shouted "Stop".

National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: In the energy sector there is a similar international crisis which has been a long time coming. We received warnings in the 1970s and 1980s, but did not heed them. China and India required steel, oil and other energy resources. Eventually the demand for basic commodities started to push inflation upwards which, in turn, triggered the financial crisis and there was no longer any cheap and...

National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: We revelled in it. It was on the basis of cheap energy resources which are no longer available as we face a peak in global oil production. Those structural problems define the storm we are facing. This helps us to acknowledge and be aware of the reality in order that we can plot a course and start to deliver solutions. Let me outline a number of principles about the solutions we will...

National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: ——namely, one of financial responsibility. It took us seven years until the late 1980s before we reached a consensus here and then we were much more able to deliver the solution that allowed the Irish economy to develop. We need the same consensus today. It worked back in the late 1980s and in the 1950s when we were faced with a similar crisis. Consensus reached then about the opening...

National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)

Eamon Ryan: I attended a meeting yesterday of a leaders' forum on climate change at which all the main sections of our society, the trade unions, the religious groups, environmental groups, business leaders——