Results 3,241-3,260 of 4,573 for speaker:Brian Leddin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I thank the commissioner and Deputy Cowen. I call Deputy Devlin.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: The sector lost €5 billion last year and there is uncertainty, because the big funds will not invest in something that is becoming increasingly marginal and uncertain.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I do not have the article in front of me, but Eddie O'Connor said this is a decade-long problem. It is said the problem is Covid-related and supply-chain related, but it predates those by a long time. Perhaps the commissioners would have a look at that and we could correspond on it. It is interesting that a leading developer is saying this. We should listen and assess the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: It is inconceivable that EirGrid, as the transmission system operator for the larger data centres and large energy users, and ESB Networks, which is the operator for the smaller ones, would not have those data. Of course, they would. There is the gas side as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: Does the commission want to respond to the point about a centralised entity?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: Is Deputy Whitmore asking whether the CRU should be the repository of that information?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I think the Deputy's argument is how we can regulate unless we-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: The decarbonisation piece the CRU deals with is related. Probably in tandem with those installations, people are getting insulation and all kinds of upgrades. As a result, people might not have to use the fossil-fuel boiler as much as they would have done previously.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: That is a fair suggestion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I would be in trouble if I pushed that one through. We will make that suggestion to members when we meet in private session and discuss these matters. Mr. Gannon has made a fair and helpful suggestion for which I thank him. I thank the witnesses for engaging with the committee. We look forward to the next time we meet.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I might make a few comments myself. It has been quite a long first round, but we have time for a second one. I want to offer some balance to Deputy Cowen's remarks from a few minutes ago, and this narrative that is emerging - which is quite an unhelpful one - that we can develop this vast infrastructure overnight, or at least very quickly. That is unhelpful, because it belies the reality of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: It has certainly been a very interesting three hours. We very much appreciate how the witnesses engaged with the committee and with members' queries. Thank you all. I am not sure when we will have the CRU in again but semi-regular meetings would be useful for both sides, so we will probably continue with something along those lines. The consensus of the members is that meetings would be...

European Year of Skills: Statements (10 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I am often minded of the low ebb this country was in about 12 years ago, around 2011, when the tide had truly gone out. In the decade or more that has passed since then, I think it is safe to say we are in a better place. It is not often acknowledged how the efforts of the two previous Governments, Fine Gael and Labour up to 2016 and Fine Gael supported by Fianna Fáil under the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I thank Mr. Gannon for his opening statement. We will move to questions from members and from non-members who have joined us today. Those who wish to ask questions should indicate same if they have not done so. We have a very full attendance, which is great to see but I am going to be very strict on timing to give everyone an opportunity to contribute. I ask everyone to stick to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: That is an important point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I am mindful of time. We must give Mr. Gannon an opportunity to respond.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: New School of Veterinary Medicine: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I welcome our guests. This is a very important discussion by any look at the numbers of graduates and the numbers of graduate vets registering. I believe 82 or 83 are coming out of vet school, but something like 320 young vets register in the country every year. The balance, the 240 or so, are training overseas. I understand half of them are Irish people who have gone overseas and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: New School of Veterinary Medicine: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: The Chair might agree with me and Deputy Crowe might agree with me, and while I did not hear Senator Maria Byrne, I suspect she might agree also. There is a strong representation from the mid-west on the committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: New School of Veterinary Medicine: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Brian Leddin: I am quite in agreement with the sentiments of earlier speakers about the route to veterinary medicine, and certainly the thinking would apply to other courses. Dr. Wall is correct that the points system has served this country very well. It is brutally fair, I suppose, but we would understand, and I think the witnesses would understand, that the entry requirements for certain courses can...