Results 10,301-10,320 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Is it not the case that we are actually in for €3.25 billion? In the letters the Minister mentioned, there was an acknowledgement that we would have to pay €10 million per year in current expenditure for departmental staff. As I told delegates from that Department when they appeared before the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment last week, one...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Just to get the figure right, it is €3.25 billion.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: No. It is the cost to us. All of it is in the State's books and none of the work with the private operator will remove any of it from the State's accounts.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I was formerly Minister in that Department and we delivered many projects. The Minister will have read the transcripts. In my experience, the Department is good in this area and has capability. Having worked for seven years on the contract, it probably knows more than anyone else about how a broadband scheme should be rolled out. We are investing €3.25 billion, whereas, without...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Why is it fundamental?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Even if one accepts that there will be risks if, for example, we sign the contract, there is still a fundamental truth. The developer does not have a huge team or significant resources in the event that there are difficulties, compared with some of the bidders that were involved at earlier stages, for example, Vodafone and SSE which are massive utility companies that could have covered some...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: The basic truth is that we know we are going to put potentially €3.75 billion on our balance sheet, representing a cost to us. The consortium's risk is €175 million. There is just no comparison. I asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment about my next point. Given that we are not in a competitive tendering process, given that we are providing...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Will the Minister recognise this part of the challenge? We know that by 2050, we have to stop using fossil fuels. The Government is going to commit to it and the Taoiseach already said so in an answer to a question I put to him last week. We know that if we are to do that and stop runaway dangerous climate change, which will ruin everyone's future, we have to keep four fifths of the known...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Our equivalent to French nuclear power or New Zealand hydropower is offshore wind energy. We have some of the strongest winds in the world and the technology is there to harness this energy and export over a distance. I am very glad that the Taoiseach signed a contract with the French in respect of an interconnector in recent days. That is how we can ship energy in. We will be selling the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: We must deal with the politics around this and stop the problem at source. The Government must stop putting all the emphasis and blame on the individual, which is what it is doing.

Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Global Assessment Report: Statements (Resumed) (30 May 2019)

Eamon Ryan: There was a sad story in the news this morning concerning the death of the last male Sumatran rhino in Malaysia. It is symbolic but it is impossible for us not to feel a sense of grief, particularly those of us who are of a certain age. My interest in ecology dates back to the late 1970s, when we studied it in school. I remember various things from that time, including collectible cards in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (5 Jun 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I wish to ask a series of questions and get an answer before moving to my next question rather than throwing out five questions at once. I want to ask Mr. Godfrey about this issue of what percentage of fixed wireless might be appropriate. I know he avoided saying that ComReg came to a conclusion on that but my understanding is that the Government is indicating less than 2% or around 2% in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (5 Jun 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Did the issuing of the 3.6 GHz spectrum and its take-up by some commercial operators lead to an adjustment of the map area for the national broadband plan? Were any areas taken out?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (5 Jun 2019)

Eamon Ryan: My next question is for Mr. Blaney or Mr. Leavy. It was stated that ComReg has "also taken the initiative to share early thinking on the retirement of the copper network once fibre-based services are available on Eir." I presume ComReg is assuming that when the fibre optic goes in, the need for the copper will become redundant. Copper has a recycling value. Does ComReg expect Eir to take...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (5 Jun 2019)

Eamon Ryan: The regulated cost Eir can charge in maintaining those poles in part covers the cost of maintaining a copper wire on them. If the copper is removed, does that regulatory cost just pass on to the national broadband company? How do they recoup the cost that was previously associated with the copper?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (5 Jun 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I apologise for focusing my questions on Mr. Godfrey, but he said something which was related to what Deputy Stanley had asked. He mentioned the average wholesale cost of broadband access. The Minister made great play of the fact that €30 per home would be the standard price and that it would be the same in the country and the city. Mr. Godfrey said that would not be the case, that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (5 Jun 2019)

Eamon Ryan: As a rule, the prices charged for regulated telecommunications are not index-linked. They are cost-based. In the area of technology costs continue to decline per the amount of data transferred. Costs are not increasing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (5 Jun 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Increasingly, that is becoming ancient history. I have had difficulty in getting an answer to this question. Ministers said the reason Ireland was following the gap or concession model was fibre degraded, that it would be a wasting asset by the end of the period and that it would involve reinvestment. I asked for evidence to that effect, but nobody has yet got back to me with it. Does...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (5 Jun 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I understood fibre was slightly different in that its very nature and the light transmission within it mean that it does not degrade significantly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (5 Jun 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I would be grateful if Mr. Godfrey would send me any information he has on the clouding of the glass.