Results 5,221-5,240 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Written Answers — Energy Resources: Energy Resources (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Over half of the gas consumed in the EU comes from sources outside Europe. A key security of supply imperative for Europe is to ensure diversification of supply routes and sources of gas. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) increasingly is a component of this strategy as Member States work to diversify supply sources and routes. LNG imports account for approximately 15% of the total EU gas market...

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Regulation of telecommunications operators and regulatory issues surrounding the quality of telecommunications services provided to customers, including broadband services, is the responsibility of the independent Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) in accordance with the requirements of the Communications Regulation Act 2002. In their most recent Residential Consumer ICT...

Written Answers — Energy Costs: Energy Costs (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Ireland's high energy costs, by comparison with much of Europe, are primarily due to significant dependence on imported fossil fuels, particularly gas, as well a requirement for very significant investment in energy infrastructure, following two decades of under-investment in the networks. The under-investment in networks and power generation posed real risks to security of supply which had...

Written Answers — Energy Efficiency: Energy Efficiency (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 and 118 together. The Government has set a target of achieving 20% energy efficiency savings across the economy in 2020. As part of this energy efficiency drive, the Government has also committed to achieving a 33% energy saving across the public sector by 2020. The National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) sets out 90 actions that Government is...

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: It is accepted that even after the full roll-out of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) there will still be a small percentage of premises that will not be capable of receiving broadband services. This is primarily due to technical and other reasons (suitability of a telephone line, distance from an enabled exchange, no line of sight etc.). The European Commission has set aside a portion of...

Written Answers — Post Codes: Post Codes (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 116, 117, 129, 138 and 527 together. The Government has approved the implementation of a national postcode system for Ireland as recommended by the National Postcode Project Board. For any developed country, a postcode system is a key piece of national infrastructure that can deliver economic and social benefits across the whole economy. Ireland is the only...

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Government policy pertaining to the electronic communications market in Ireland is set out in "Next Generation Broadband – Gateway to a Knowledge Ireland", which I published in June 2009. The policy paper was developed in accordance with various key principles, which are crucial to the development of the market including (i) competition, at platform and service levels, which drives...

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: My Department and others have been working, and continue to work, on addressing the digital divide with a range of measures to promote digital engagement. One of the issues has been access to the technology and infrastructure – this is being addressed both by the market and in the case of areas where broadband provision remains an issue through the National Broadband Scheme in which my...

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: My Department entered into a contract with "3", a Hutchison Whampoa company, for the delivery of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) in late December 2008. Since then, 3 has progressed its network rollout and NBS broadband services are now available in almost half of the 1,028 designated Electoral Divisions (ED) to be covered under the Scheme. Under the NBS contract, all EDs in the NBS...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: The broadcasting elements of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, representing its primary provisions, were transposed by the Broadcasting Act 2009 which was enacted on 12th July 2009. The elements of the Directive applicable to on-demand audiovisual media services will be transposed by secondary legislation, the drafting of which is at an advanced stage. I expect that these...

Written Answers — Energy Costs: Energy Costs (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is a highly efficient way of generating onsite heat and electricity simultaneously. It can offer significantly reduced energy bills for the end user and is a particularly efficient form of energy generation as it minimises any transmission losses involved in getting power to the site. Traditionally, CHP plants were only used in large industrial units with a high...

Written Answers — Electricity Generation: Electricity Generation (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: The current EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which runs until the end of 2012, requires a free allocation of carbon credits to electricity generators. The North/South Single Electricity Market Committee, which is statutorily responsible for the operation of the all-island electricity market on the island of Ireland, decided that from 2008 all electricity generators must include the full...

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: The OECD report is the most recent in a series of periodic reports on electronic communications markets. The broadband market is a fast moving and dynamic one; this applies to all OECD countries. On this basis annual comparisons of broadband metrics between different countries cannot capture the full extent of market developments. For example, the OECD report is a snapshot of the position...

Written Answers — Energy Costs: Energy Costs (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I welcome the fact that the benefits of competition in electricity supply, which have previously been confined to large industrial and commercial customers, are also now available to domestic consumers. The entry into the domestic electricity market of two new suppliers, Airtricity and Bord Gáis Energy, demonstrates that policy to encourage competition in electricity generation and supply...

Written Answers — Energy Policy: Energy Policy (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Raising awareness across society of energy related issues is a key factor in facilitating the substantive behavioural change that is required of us all to ensure a sustainable energy future. My Department and Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) have undertaken a number of publicity programmes in this regard. I believe that a number of our third level institutions have introduced modular...

Written Answers — Alternative Energy Projects: Alternative Energy Projects (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: At the Energy Council in Brussels on 7 December, I signed the political declaration on the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative. This important initiative will spearhead the development of an offshore wind energy grid, or 'supergrid', in the North and North West Seas. The North Seas Initiative involves Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Sweden...

Written Answers — Energy Costs: Energy Costs (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: The transportation and supply of domestic gas cylinders which contain liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is not licensed under the Energy Acts and neither my Department nor the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) has any role in the regulation of LPG transportation or supply. While the regulation of Bord Gáis Éireann natural gas tariffs is the responsibility of the CER, which is statutorily...

Written Answers — Energy Costs: Energy Costs (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: The Government is committed to mitigating energy costs for vulnerable households through a combination of institutional supports, investment in improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock and the wide availability of advice. I am working closely with the Ministers for Social and Family Affairs and Environment, Heritage and Local Government to continue to deliver a fully cohesive...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: The green economy is set to make a very significant contribution to economic renewal by creating employment in areas such as renewable energy and energy efficiency. The report of the Green Enterprise Group, published in December 2009, indicated that there is potential to create over 80,000 jobs in the green economy over the coming years. At the launch of the Report, I noted that over 15,000...

Written Answers — Energy Resources: Energy Resources (26 Jan 2010)

Eamon Ryan: The Ocean Energy Development Unit (OEDU) was established in Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) in 2008 and full implementation of the Ocean Energy programme commenced in 2009. Government has set an ambitious target of 500MW of ocean energy by 2020. Ocean energy is currently at the research and development stage globally. There is no ocean energy device as yet connected to the Irish grid. SEI...