Results 10,661-10,680 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: From my experience of utilities, if someone is going abroad with IDA Ireland and visiting a major investor into Ireland something we always speak about is the stability of our electricity grid system. The level of outage is very low, particularly given some of the stormy weather we have. Investment in fault location is a critical part of keeping the figure low, not just for safety but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: CRU mentioned yesterday that one of the difficulties - it related to the mineral oil in the cables, but it applied more widely - was that in the period from 2013 to 2015, which is the period we are concerned about, the ESB had serious significant contraction in the capital budget, which put a strain on its ability to meet certain capital spending areas. Did Mr. O'Loughlin have a sense of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Was Mr. O'Loughlin aware that under PR3 there had been such a significant underspend on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: It is interesting that Mr. O'Loughlin cited that. This problem goes back to 2003 and probably a lot further. Some of these cables have been in place since the 1960s and 1970s.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: As Mr. O'Loughlin said, it is publicly reported in the UK and he knows what the New York figure is. While this may not be glamorous or tough career advancing, it is not insignificant. There were 90,000 l back in 2003 and we have still had 30,000 l, 40,000 l or 50,000 l in recent years. For an issue like this to be ongoing for at least 15 or 20 years, what was the response from the company...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Mr. O'Loughlin said he was aware that under the 2003 groundwater directive we have an obligation to refer any leakage over the level to the relevant authorities. Did he raise this with the ESB?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I was tangentially involved in conversations with the Department. As part of the mediation process in the past six to eight months, Mr. O'Loughlin was in touch with the Department. It might be useful to summarise what role it had and how it fitted into the attempt to get it resolved in a mediated way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Has the EPA approached Mr. O'Loughlin for information or contacted him in any way?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: It is called not turning a blind eye.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I thank Mr. O'Loughlin very much.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I apologise for being late. This is the second last night sitting of the Dail and it is slightly busy with all sorts of things going on. I apologise in advance if some questions I ask have been asked already. I will keep my contribution brief. I will take the example of sulphur hexafluoride, the gas used for insulating in the generation system. As I am not a technology expert, I am not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: SF6 has a potency 23,000 times greater than CO2 in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Would it be fair to say Mr. O'Loughlin's drawing of this to the attention of the ESB was one of the reasons those figures in the recent year are so much lower than they have been in previous years?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Was that part of the sulphur scrubber project at Moneypoint or was that earlier?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Ms Quane believes the reduction in the use and the proper monitoring of those gases would have happened any way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: To put it a different way, when Mr. O'Loughlin raised concerns with the ESB about the monitoring, accounting, reporting and assessment of what was happening, he had a valid concern about what was happening with the use of SF6 in the ESB? Does Ms Quane agree?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I am only touching the surface and I am using a random example. One of the other issues Mr. O’Loughlin raised-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: That is fine. I should acknowledge that I had been talking to Mr. O’Loughlin during this process. I did not approach the ESB on any of this because I understood there was a mediation process taking place and I was hoping that it would resolve the issues. I am not questioning any of the ESB representatives or Mr. O'Loughlin. On a public interest matter, a concern was raised about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: ESB Networks: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I do not want to get into the specifics too much because I am not knowledgeable enough. I am going on memory and, if I recall rightly, my understanding is that there were about 14 vans in the inventory but 30 in existence. Some had been in operation for 20 years but there had not been any maintenance or proper accounting of the repair and maintenance of those vehicles. On the basis of the...