Results 11,341-11,360 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Other Questions: Independent Broadcasting Sector (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I agree with what the Deputy has said. Local radio is very important. It is quite remarkable that the regional radio stations have 60% of the audience. They provide public service content of merit, above and beyond what the legislation requires. They have a tremendously loyal audience and perform a very important role, as Deputy Colreavy notes. I spoke at the annual conference of the...

Other Questions: Independent Broadcasting Sector (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I can tell Deputy Moynihan that I intend at 4 p.m. today to lay the report of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland before both Houses. Under the 2009 Act, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is required to produce a fundamental review of funding for public service broadcasting as against the statutory objects in the Act that are on the public service broadcasters. This is the first time...

Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation Targets (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 11 together. The 2009 EU renewable energy directive set Ireland a binding target where at least 16% of our energy requirements should come from renewable sources by 2020. In order to meet our overall 16% requirement, Ireland is committed to meeting 40% of electricity demand, 12% of heating and 10% of transport from renewable sources. Although these...

Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation Targets (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Microgeneration has been a problem in the country. The ESB was the only supplier prepared to take it on board and the uptake was not great. I suppose if it were commercially viable the others would be doing it also. Given the step-down in economic activity we have experienced in recent times there is not a big demand at present. We are examining the question of microgeneration and we are...

Other Questions: Energy Regulation (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Responsibility for the regulation of the electricity and natural gas market is a matter for the Commission for Energy Regulation, which is an independent statutory regulator. I am very mindful of the importance of well-functioning energy markets for business and domestic consumers. The Government remains firmly committed to increasing competition as the best means of exerting downward...

Other Questions: Energy Regulation (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Eight suppliers operate in the electricity market and there are coincidentally eight active suppliers licensed by the regulator in the gas market. For a country our size there is certainly adequate competition, but as the Deputy fairly points out, energy prices in this country are high. That is partly because we are an isolated island that has not generated any of its own fuel in terms of...

Other Questions: Energy Security (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, published its most recent annual electricity capacity assessment on 27 June. It analysed security of supply in Great Britain over the forthcoming five winters. It shows that the buffer between peak demand and supply could be lower than previously expected and proposed for consultation certain measures to address this issue. This report and the...

Other Questions: Energy Security (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I assure the House that there is no basis for such reportage, nor is it true in this case that there is rationing planned for the UK. In contrast, the latest, All-Island Generation Capacity Statement for 2013-22, published in January this year, forecast that the adequacy situation in this country is positive for the next ten years. Indeed there is a considerable generation surplus forecast...

Other Questions: Energy Security (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: We are at cross-purposes. Deputy Moynihan referred to rationalisation but he meant rationing.

Other Questions: Energy Security (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Touch wood, but I think I can give the Deputy the assurance he seeks in the sense that no such circumstances are envisaged. That said, we are at the end of the pipeline. We are a remote island on the verge of Europe and we saw what happened only a couple of winters’ ago when Russia turned off the pipeline. The Deputy is asking me to look into a crystal ball. In terms of our...

Other Questions: Energy Security (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: There is a limit technically on what the grid can take. The overall target is 40% from renewables, meaning wind in the main, by 2020. I am unsure as to the proportion in the case of the ESB alone, but the extent of reliance on renewables will gradually grow between now and 2020.

Other Questions: Energy Security (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: From renewables in terms of generation.

Other Questions: Energy Security (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I would be reluctant to agree with that statement without checking it, but I will check it and communicate with the Deputy.

Other Questions: Energy Security (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Off the top of my head, most of the power generation stations would not seem to bear out that statement.

Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation Issues (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating the Deputy. I am sure that she will remember him at Christmas.

Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation Issues (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Wave and tidal energy technology is still at the research, development and demonstration stage globally. Ireland has a rich ocean resource and significant potential in this regard. In order to take forward the ocean energy strategy, the OEDU was established in the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, in 2009. This unit has been taking forward the development of the sector through...

Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation Issues (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Wave and tidal energy technology is still at the research stage. Notwithstanding the economic constraints on the Government, we have managed more than to keep the programmes alive. Given our current circumstances and the impact of some of the adjustments that must be made, not everyone would agree that wave and tidal technology ought to be a priority. I agree with the Deputy that wave and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Employee Shareholding Scheme (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: An Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) was put in place in the ESB in 2001. The ESOP was an element of the Cost and Competitiveness Review (CCR) agreed between the Government, ESB Management and ESB Group of Unions in 1996. Under the CCR, 5% of the shares in ESB were made available to employees, without actual cash transfer from the employees in return for specific, substantial,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Speeds (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, has established a callcosts website which provides information to the public on the alternative broadband services marketed by competing service providers on a county by county basis. ComReg does not publish averages of the available broadband speeds. The ESRI published a working paper last year, based on the callcosts data, which...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Sugar Industry (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The Government is committed to increasing renewable energy in the electricity, transport and heating sectors in order to meet the binding target of 16% of all energy to come from renewable sources as set out in the EU Renewable Energy Directive. Currently, Ireland imports around 90% of its fuel to meet demand at a cost of approximately €6bn per annum. Developing indigenous renewable...