Results 8,161-8,180 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Sale of State Assets (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: I am sorry Deputy McDonald cannot be with us because she has been asking me to do this for a long time. I have done it, but she is not here and I feel let down.

Sale of State Assets (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: I suppose so. The report by Frontier Economics was undertaken under a process overseen by Mr. Fergus Cahill as independent chair. The report contains an assessment of costs, benefits and regulatory impact of the options for unbundling the electricity transmission assets set in the context of the EU third package and the all-island single electricity market. The process allowed for input from...

Sale of State Assets (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: As long as Deputy Colreavy shares her delight.

Sale of State Assets (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: The subject matter of the question is the break-up of the ESB. The Cahill-Frontier report recommended against that. The memorandum that I brought for decision to the Government was to implement those recommendations and avoid the break-up of the ESB. I am happy my Government colleagues approved this. Deputy McDonald, in particular, was calling on me over a period before the summer recess...

Sale of State Assets (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: Deputy Colreavy broadened the original question of the sale of a minority stake. On the original question, I will be quite happy to facilitate a full debate on the issue, if the Deputy so wishes. The Deputy also wants to know what will happen if the EU-IMF-ECB troika comes back for more. That is not a vista I want to contemplate. What has been imposed on us as it stands is very painful to...

Sale of State Assets (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: Deputy Ó Cuív asked me to confirm that it would be impossible for the troika to return when the EU-IMF deal runs out.

Sale of State Assets (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: Assuming Ireland can get back into the sovereign markets which is the purpose of the programme in the first place, I still hope that it will be the case. It depends, however, how we manage it in the remaining lifetime of the memorandum of understanding. Deputy Ó Cuív is correct, even if our colleagues in Sinn Féin will not admit it, that the alternative would have been serious cuts in...

Sale of State Assets (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: -----but it was a deal not with the Government but a deal with a sovereign state and this Government has inherited it and we have to manoeuvre within it to achieve improvements. We have achieved a number of not insubstantial improvements and I hope, as news continues to break, there is the prospect for more flexibility ahead.

Offshore Exploration (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: The total volume of sales of gas from the Kinsale and Ballycotton gas fields is approximately 1.75 trillion cubic feet since production started in 1978. Royalties from the two fields are payable to the State at a rate of 12.5% of the fair market value of gas at the well head. The amount received in royalties to date is just over €190 million. The total volume of sales gas produced from...

Offshore Exploration (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: The figure of €190 million is royalties only. The royalties system was terminated in 1987.

Offshore Exploration (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: Yes, I know the point of the Deputy's question and I understand the question and the importance of it. However, the problem is I do not know how he can say what we are giving away. The point is we are not giving anything away because until we find something, we have nothing to give away. That is the issue. If the Deputy is of the view that the fiscal regime is not tough enough, it was...

Offshore Exploration (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: I apologise but I am bursting with information on this question.

Offshore Exploration (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: The Deputies and I are like ships in the night. I do not think we are relating to each other. I would love to be free of the shackles of the moneys that have gone into the banks but Deputies Boyd Barrett and Ferris do not accept that it was necessary in the first place. We could have a long discussion about why it was necessary and how it might have been done differently. That will be an...

Offshore Exploration (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: Nobody denies that the previous Government made a hames of the situation. Everyone acknowledges that, but it does not help given where we are now. Therefore, I am reluctant to agree with the Deputy that it would be a better use of moneys that we do not have to spend €70 million or €80 million drilling holes that have largely been dry. Of 156 holes that were drilled there were three...

Offshore Exploration (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: I am very sceptical. Under the present licensing round the companies will be given a permit for two years to do the necessary exploration activity. After that, they have three years to drill and if they do not drill it is a case of use or lose it. They have to drill. We will see. I hope Deputy Boyd Barrett and I will still be in the House at that time and I hope bountiful resources will...

Topical Issue Debate (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: Did you include, Deputy Finian McGrath, a Cheann Comhairle? He is looking for a candidate.

Written Answers — Offshore Exploration: Offshore Exploration (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: The North West Mayo Forum was established in 2008 with the dual objectives of providing an opportunity for dialogue between parties with an interest in the Corrib gas project and offering an opportunity for furthering the socio-economic development of the North West Mayo Region. It was intended that membership of the Forum would include a broad representation from local community groups,...

Written Answers — Offshore Exploration: Offshore Exploration (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: Construction of the Corrib Gas Terminal at Bellanaboy is substantially completed, as are the subsea facilities at the Corrib Gas Field. The 83 km. offshore section of the Corrib gas pipeline has also been installed Following the granting of a number of statutory consents earlier this year for the construction of the onshore section of the pipeline along a revised route, work on this final...

Written Answers — Exchequer Savings: Exchequer Savings (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: The Report of the Review Group on State Assets and Liabilities, chaired by Mr Colm McCarthy, was presented to Government and published in April this year. In respect of Bord na Móna the Review Group recommended that the Government should seek to dispose of Bord na Móna as a single entity, including peat extraction rights but not ownership of the peat lands. Following publication of the...

Written Answers — Television Licence Fee: Television Licence Fee (14 Sep 2011)

Pat Rabbitte: RTÉ is an independent national public service broadcaster whose remit and obligations are set out in the Broadcasting Act 2009. Section 114(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 2009 charges RTÉ with providing and operating a national sound broadcasting service which shall have the character of a public service, be a free-to-air service and be made available, in so far as it is reasonably...