Results 9,241-9,260 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Emergency Call Answering Service (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) responds to all calls to 112/999 in the State in under one second. Having identified the nature of the emergency and the location, calls are connected to the correct Emergency Service, on average, in under 6.5 seconds. The remaining calls are filtered and not forwarded to the Emergency Services. The majority of filtered calls occur where the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Schemes (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Better Energy Homes and Better Energy Warmer Homes schemes are administered on behalf of my Department by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) under the Better Energy Programme. The Better Energy Homes scheme provides grant aid to private homeowners who wish to improve the energy performance of their home. Fixed grants are provided towards the cost of a range of measures...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Appointments to State Boards (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: There have been 175 appointments to State Boards under the aegis of my Department in the period 7 March 2011 to 30 November 2015. Of these appointments, 25 were from among individuals who submitted expressions of interest following an advertisement on my Department's website. A further 9 appointees applied under the revised arrangements set out in the Guidelines on Appointments to State...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Appointments to State Boards (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: There have been 17 appointments to the position of Chairperson to State boards under the aegis of my Department since March 2011. Of these, 9 have appeared before the relevant Joint Oireachtas Committee in line with current Government policy on the appointment of Chairpersons to State Boards. It should be noted that a number of the appointments were reappointments and therefore an appearance...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Commencement of Legislation (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: There is one Act for which all sections have yet to be formally commenced by my Department. The details are set out in the following table. Title of Act Parts/Sections not yet commenced Purpose of sections Petroleum (Exploration and Extraction) Safety Act, 2015 All sections To confer on the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) the additional functions with respect to petroleum safety...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Postal Services (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong and viable company, in a position to provide a high quality postal service and maintain a nationwide network of customer focused post offices in the community. The post office network plays an important role in serving the needs of business and domestic customers alike. However, the postal sector is undergoing systemic change, with...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. On 29 September 2015, the Government agreed and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The National Broadband Plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Renewable Energy Generation (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our overall energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020, to be achieved through 40% renewables in electricity, 12% in heat and 10% in transport. In 2014, 8.6% of Ireland’s overall energy requirements were met from renewable sources. To date wind energy has proved to be the most...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Commission for Energy Regulation (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) is Ireland’s independent energy regulator and has a wide range of economic, customer protection and safety responsibilities. While it is entirely independent in the execution of its statutory duties, I am satisfied that it carries them out to the highest standard. As I have said in the White Paper on energy policy which I published yesterday,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Wind Energy Generation (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: My Department has been working with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, EirGrid and the Commission for Energy Regulation, to assess the costs and value of choosing the path towards 40% renewable electricity generation in 2020. It is expected that the majority of this 40% target will be met by wind energy. Quantifying the costs and benefits of meeting our renewable energy obligations...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Electricity Transmission Network (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: An Independent Expert Panel considering EirGrid's Grid West and Grid Link projects was appointed on foot of a Government decision in January 2014. On foot of a request by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the Independent Expert Panel agreed to provide an opinion on the compatibility of the methodologies to be employed on the Grid West and Grid Link projects with...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Functions (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The structure of Government departments and the allocation of functions is determined by the Taoiseach and Government. Clearly both departments collaborate closely on a bilateral basis on areas of mutual interest, for example climate change, as well as on other issues using the range of cross departmental structures in place.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. In July last I published a detailed draft...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Living Wage (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: My Department currently has 10 staff members who earn less than €11.50 gross per hour. The cost to my Department of introducing a minimum wage of €11.50 would be in the region of €42,000 per annum. The salaries paid to employees of the bodies under the aegis of my Department are generally matters for those bodies.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Resources (13 Jan 2016)

Alex White: The Whitegate refinery was privatised as a result of its sale by the State in 2001. Under the terms of the sale, the owners are obliged to continue to operate the refinery for a minimum of fifteen years, a commitment which remains in place until July 2016. That commitment is not affected by the planned sale. The owners of the refinery, Phillips 66, advised my Department in October that...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Agencies Board Appointments (13 Jan 2016)

Alex White: There have been 175 appointments to State Boards under the aegis of my Department in the period 9 March 2011 to date. Of these appointments, 25 were from among individuals who submitted expressions of interest following an advertisement on my Department's website. A further 9 appointees applied under the revised arrangements set out in the Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards which were...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Expenditure (13 Jan 2016)

Alex White: During the past year my Department paid subscriptions to a total of 14 bodies and group, the details of which are set out in the following Table: Body Details Amount - € Institute of International & European Affairs Corporate Membership 8,500 European Movement Ireland Annual Subscription 1,300 The Statistical and Social Enquiry Society of Ireland Annual Subscription 200...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Expenditure (13 Jan 2016)

Alex White: During the course of 2015 my Department paid subscriptions to a total of 10 publishers at a total cost of €51,435, the details of which are set out in the following Table: Number Name Details Cost € 1 101 News Newspaper Subscriptions 8,556 2 Aspermont Media Ltd Mining Journal Subscription 909 3 ELSEVIER Geological Survey Government Edition Fee 25,095 4 Financial Times...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Advertising Expenditure (13 Jan 2016)

Alex White: The total sum spent from my Department's advertising budget in relation to the categories of advertising expenditure raised by the Deputy amounted to €53,387 in 2015.