Results 421-440 of 40,856 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Postal Services. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: I certainly do. The European Parliament will certainly not prescribe how the Government should implement competition in the Irish postal market. It will agree the overall directive and possibly amend the manner in which it will be framed, in the interests of promoting competition across the European Union. The Government will decide how we will put it in place in the Irish market.
- Electricity Network. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: Question 4: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on an east-west electricity inter-connector between Ireland and Britain will be built; the person who will pay for same; the capacity it should have; the acceptable timeframe for the project to commence and be finished; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23170/07]
- Electricity Network. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: Is it not the case that the ESB offered to build this interconnector and then hand it over to EirGrid? Why did the Government turn down that offer?
- Electricity Network. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: To clarify the position, the taxpayer will pay for it and it will be handed over to EirGrid who will own it on behalf of the State. It will be linked up with the network which EirGrid controls and will own separately from the ESB when the Minister decides to introduce legislation to make this happen. Is this correct? Is the Minister satisfied â because I am not â that 500 MW is big...
- Electricity Network. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: I thank the Minister for the clarification. Does the Minister mean there is no cost saving to building a 1,000 MW interconnector at that stage as opposed to a 500 MW? Will it be as cost effective to upgrade in the future? Is this cost being factored in by the Minister? The point made by the Minister is also the point I wish to make. We are endeavouring to introduce competition into the...
- Electricity Network. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: It will keep costs high so renewables are competitive.
- Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: Question 5: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the strategy he supports for an efficient and speedy roll out of broadband to all parts of the country; the timeframe that this can be achieved in; the way the Government will support the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23171/07]
- Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: I thank the Minister for his reply. It is helpful to know which groups are in the running for the national broadband scheme. I wish to make a reality check for anyone listening to this debate. Ireland is still a long way behind all its direct competitors and many of its European neighbours in terms of broadband connectivity. A total of 7.8% of the population of County Leitrim have...
- Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: Will the Minister confirm that he is abandoning the group broadband scheme because he believes it is not working? The reason it has not worked is that there is only matching funding and the community must find half the funding. It is being abandoned in favour of a national broadband scheme that will happen at some stage in the future and the money is being diverted to a different sector in...
- Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: Where is the â¬10 million coming from?
- Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: I am asking the question now.
- Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: The Minister knows the answer but he is not giving it to us.
- Fuel Prices. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: When similar questions were raised about the mobile phone market, the regulator, ComReg, responded with a website which outlined to consumers in clear terms the difference in prices and options on offer from various operators. Would it be forward thinking to take a lead on this issue and speak with the energy regulator about similarly comparing diesel, petrol and biofuel prices throughout...
- Fuel Prices. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: The problem is that not everyone drives from Cork to Dublin.
- Energy Resources. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: I concede the question was so general that I did not expect precise answers. May I probe the Minister on one or two specifics; first, how does he intend to handle the separation of the ESB and Eirgrid? In essence what he is proposing is to take the transition system which is made up of 6,600 km valued at â¬840 million away from the ESB balance sheet and any ESB maintenance work and so on...
- Energy Resources. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: Yes.
- Energy Resources. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: Taking a slightly different tactic, because this is a huge area, the renewable energy promotion area, does the Minister plan specific targets on an annual basis in terms of the overall power generation in Ireland coming from renewable energy and, if not, why, because that is something he promoted strongly in opposition?
- Energy Resources. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: Can the Minister set a floor?
- Energy Resources. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: They are not annual targets. Therefore, there is no way of measuring performance on a yearly basis.
- Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)
Simon Coveney: Regarding the end of the group broadband scheme, is the Minister telling us today that people in rural areas without the capacity to connect to broadband will have no Government sponsored or supported scheme to help them connect to broadband until the national broadband scheme is in place, which the Minister has advised will be some time after 2008? For the next 18 months people can have no...