Results 4,121-4,140 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Offshore Islands (21 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: The aerodromes on the Aran Islands and at Cleggan and Inishbofin are currently under one management contract. This contract will end on 30 September 2015. My Department is currently seeking tenders from consultants to assist it in relation to the procurement process for the contract for the Aran Islands air service and the contract for the aerodrome management service. It is my...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Ceapacháin Chuig Boird Stáit (22 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 221 agus 222 le chéile. Is mian liom a dheimhniú go bhfuil sé i gceist agam ainmniúchán Chomhairle Contae Chorcaí a cheapadh ar bhord an Údaráis go luath. Tá i gceist agam fosta léirithe spéise a lorg go luath ó dhaoine a bhfuil suim acu i gceapacháin chuig bord an Údaráis ach na...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Energy Prices (22 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I thank Deputy Sheahan for raising this timely issue, especially in light of the publication of a new climate change Bill this month. If and when enacted, it will become the first climate change Bill this country has ever had. We are looking to 2020 and 2050, at our energy mix and our reliance on fossil fuels. It is important that we begin this conversation. The Government is acutely...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Energy Prices (22 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I will provide the 2013 figures for the number of customers who switched providers. A total of 266,224 electricity customers and 117,002, gas customers switched providers. I take the Senator's point that certain categories of customers are used to working with their supplier and we should facilitate them. There is a role for the Commission for Energy Regulation to raise awareness for them....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Community Care Provision (22 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I had a good conversation with the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, yesterday evening, and, as the Senator knows, I am taking this commencement matter on his behalf. Community hospitals are a critical and integral component of the overall health system. Even at the beginning of this month, when the conversations were focused very much on general hospitals and trolleys and blockages at accident...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Community Care Provision (22 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Senator and will convey his question to the Minister for Health. The important thing that is stated in black and white here is that Waterford city, as the Senator has correctly pointed out, has been identified based on priority. That is the first important component. The Minister for Health has outlined the reasons why the voted allocation of capital funding does not happen at...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Exploration Licences (27 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: The tables below includes details of all petroleum exploration authorisations awarded in respect of areas of the Irish offshore during the period 2012 to 2014. No petroleum exploration authorisation was awarded in respect of any onshore area in those years. EXPLORATION LICENCES Licence Number Location Participants *operator Commencement Date Expirations Date Frontier Exploration Licence...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Inland Fisheries (27 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: Ireland’s inland fishery authorities are committed to using the most accurate available data and internationally accepted methodologies to inform decision making. In this regard, while Inland Fisheries Ireland is the Statutory body responsible for the protection, management and conservation of the inland fisheries resource, it is supported in Salmon fisheries assessment by the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Inland Fisheries Ireland Investigations (27 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I propose to take Questions Nos. 573 and 574 together. Ireland's Eel Management Plan (EMP) was accepted by the EU in 2009 under the 2007 EU Eel regulation (1100/2007). The plan outlined the following main management actions aimed at reducing eel mortality and increasing silver eel escapement to the sea: - a cessation of the commercial eel fishery and closure of the market, - mitigation...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Inland Fisheries (27 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: The Standing Scientific Committees on Eel (SSCE) and Salmon (SSCS) are provided for under Section 7.5(a) of the 2010 Inland Fisheries Act. The purpose of the committees is to provide independent scientific advice to Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) who are responsible for the conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Ireland’s salmon and eel stocks. In framing the 2010...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Fisheries Protection (27 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I am advised that FARNET is the community of people, including experts, civil servants and local citizens from across the EU, that are collectively engaged in implementing a particular strand (Axis 4) of the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) aimed at promoting sustainable development in EU fisheries areas. Funding available under this strand is targeted primarily at creating alternative economic...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Air Services Provision (27 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: The aerodromes on the Aran Islands and at Cleggan and Inishbofin are currently under one management contract. This contract will end on 30 September 2015. My Department is currently seeking tenders from consultants to assist it in relation to the procurement process for this contract as well as the Aran Islands air service contract. My Department has no plans at this time to seek separate...

Other Questions: Gas Exploration Licences (29 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputy for the question. To assist Government bodies in making informed decisions about future licensing and management of any proposal for the use of hydraulic fracturing as part of an unconventional gas exploration or extraction project, comprehensive knowledge of the potential impacts of this process on the environment and human health is required. On behalf of the Department...

Other Questions: Gas Exploration Licences (29 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I agree with the Deputy's sentiments and am at one with him on his concern, having met with a number of groups, including during the summer with Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Senator Michael Comiskey. I note that Deputy Michael Colreavy has a very strong interest in the area also. There are concerns. In fact, more than 1,000 submissions came from the community during the...

Other Questions: Gas Exploration Licences (29 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I will relay the Deputy's concerns. We will look at a mechanism to disseminate that information. On Deputy Wallace's concerns on health, I note that there is a licensing round in the Atlantic margins currently. If one looks at the acreage available to Ireland in that context, Ireland is the fourth largest country in Europe in geographical terms. There is a momentum offshore and within the...

Other Questions: Aquaculture Development (29 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputy for tabling this question. Policy on the development of the aquaculture sector is a matter for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The consistent position of Ministers and Ministers of State in my Department and Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI, the State agency with responsibility for the inland fisheries resource, has been to support aquaculture...

Other Questions: Aquaculture Development (29 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: We must always be vigilant. Any opportunity for my officials and those of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, to collaborate on an interdepartmental level is welcome. The experience in Canada and Scotland in respect of closed containment systems indicates that major upfront capital investment is required. This approach is at the development stage....

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Aquaculture Development (29 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: Policy on the development of aquaculture is a matter for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The consistent position of Ministers and Ministers of State in my Department and Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), the State Agency with responsibility for the inland fisheries resource, has been to support aquaculture development which is environmentally sustainable and which meets...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Exploration Licences Data (29 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 185 together. A table outlines the exploration licences issued by my Department over the past five years. Details of all authorisations granted by my Department are published on my Department's website on a quarterly basis and can also be found in the six monthly reports to the Oireachtas, which I am obliged to lay before the Houses under the Minerals...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Natural Gas Grid (29 Jan 2015)

Joe McHugh: Completion of the Corrib gas field development works, by the developer, is the principal factor that will determine the date for first gas. Construction and testing of the infrastructure will be completed shortly, with first gas anticipated in mid 2015.