Results 9,121-9,140 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Sale of State Assets (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: I have not made any analysis of the impact on jobs and in advance of decisions being made I am not sure how one would do so. I have talked to management in the ESB and Bord Gáis and I am happy as a result of those discussions that part-privatisation of, say, Bord Gáis down the line, far from being likely to lead to job reductions, could lead to additional employment as additional...

Public Service Contracts (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: I have received two reports on the safety aspects of Bord Gáis's award of a contract to the Balfour Beatty-CLG joint venture. As I have no direct role or responsibility in a tender process or contract award by a commercial semi-State company, the focus of my scrutiny in this instance is to ensure both BGE and the Commission for Energy Regulation have carried out their duties appropriately...

Public Service Contracts (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: We are talking about the serious issue of safety in the gas system. I have set out for the House the statutory responsibilities in that regard. I take the allegations made by the Deputy very seriously and acted on them after he had brought them to my attention when I last answered questions at Question Time. I have since received the two reports to which I referred, one from Bord Gáis and...

Public Service Contracts (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: I do not know about the allegation of false accounting, but if the matter is still before the courts, we should let it make its decision. I repeat this is a transnational company which has 163 subsidiaries. I do not know if any of the persons involved in the false accounting alleged has anything to do with the company involved in the joint venture in the provision of services here, but on...

Public Service Contracts (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: I will pursue the question of false accounting.

Telecommunications Services (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: All post-primary schools will have a 100 MB broadband connection installed by the end of 2014 in a project jointly funded by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Department of Education and Skills. This follows on from the successful pilot project which has been running in some second level schools for the past two years. The national roll-out will be...

Telecommunications Services (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: My own county, I hope.

Telecommunications Services (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: To be honest, I have not got that far yet. The reason I selected the 12 counties mentioned is because broadband is weakest in most of them. They have basic broadband, but they do not have high speed broadband. I visited a school in Claremorris, with which I have some familiarity, where the first year students have been using tablets since the beginning of the academic year, but due to the...

Telecommunications Services (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The two questions are connected. I had a considerable battle to get the money to roll out high-speed broadband across the second level schools. The capital cost is being borne by my Department. We are also bearing the current cost in the year of installation and for a year thereafter. I certainly do not have the resources to perform a similar role for the primary schools. Deputy Lawlor...

Energy Prices (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The Irish oil industry is fully privatised, liberalised and deregulated, and there is free entry to the market. There is no price control on petroleum products and it is government policy to encourage price competition and consumer choice. Responsibility for the regulation of the electricity and gas markets is a matter for the Commission for Energy Regulation, which is an independent...

Energy Prices (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: Deputy Durkan is probably correct that one can never rule out speculation in the oil market as a factor. The problem is that, ultimately, we are price takers. Until we find oil off our own coast, which many seem determined we will not, we will import it. The latest figures from data published by EUROSTAT show that Irish electricity and gas prices are performing well by reference to the EU...

Electricity Transmission Network (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The State-owned independent transmission system operator, EirGrid, is building the east-west interconnector between Ireland and Britain. The interconnector, which is on schedule and within budget, will be commissioned this autumn. The interconnector is a strategically vital energy project for the island of Ireland and is financially supported under the European Energy Programme for Recovery....

Electricity Transmission Network (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: As Deputy Clare Daly will be aware, I tested her propositions with EirGrid and I am satisfied the material that I have put on the record of the House is the honest and best assessment available to me. Deputy Daly is correct in one regard, that is, that I met Rush Community Council and as a result of that meeting, I re-tested the claims it makes that EirGrid withheld or misrepresented data on...

Electricity Transmission Network (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: I accept that the concerns of Rush Community Council are genuinely held but I repeat that its propositions have been tested. We have met Rush Community Council directly. I have consulted my chief technical adviser, taken advice from the senior officials in my Department and put these claims to EirGrid which has responsibility in this matter. I have never heard anybody fault or denigrate...

Electricity Transmission Network (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: They are the experts in these areas and have engaged in a categoric refutation of the charges repeated again today.

Energy Review (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The EU-IMF-ECB memorandum of understanding in the programme of financial support for Ireland included the requirement that an independent assessment of the electricity and gas sectors, taking due account of the EU regulatory context for the sectors, be commenced by the end of September 2011. The International Energy Agency, IEA, is completing its periodic in-depth review of Irish energy...

Energy Review (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: As I said to the Deputy, the part of the report given to me was provided in confidence by the International Energy Agency. The particular caveat entered reads: For the internal use of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources only. No external transmission, disclosure, re-publication, reproduction or other use of this publication or any portion thereof may be made...

Hydraulic Fracturing (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: In October last year I requested the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct research and advise me on the environmental implications of hydraulic fracturing as a means of extracting natural gas from underground reserves. The agency is funding preliminary background research into the environmental aspects of shale gas extraction and the regulatory approaches of other countries, with a...

Hydraulic Fracturing (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: We should opt for a broader national policy and I absolutely agree that is the right approach. However, I simply do not have the expert evidence available to me at this stage. A little over one year ago the previous Government issued licences for exploration to three companies, but essentially they were for no more than desktop-style surveying. I await the report of the EPA which I...

Hydraulic Fracturing (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: Yes, I have had discussions with our colleagues in Northern Ireland about this because they seem to be further along the road than we are, and were about to commence fracking in Fermanagh in particular. They too now are pulling back somewhat and waiting until more information is available in this area. No, I have not spoken to the French EPA, but we have spoken to some people politically in...