Results 11,601-11,620 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Policy Review (15 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The Aarhus Convention was ratified by Ireland in June 2012 and entered into force on 18 September 2012. Th e three pillars of the Convention are access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters. Ireland has adopted the necessary legislation to implement the requirements of the Convention and ensure full compliance with it. Last...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Financial Resolution No. 8: General (Resumed) (16 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: We can now say that in the first half of the lifetime of the Government we have pulled the country back from the brink, restored stability to its finances and its reputation abroad. The second half of the Government's lifetime must be focused on recovery and job creation, starting with this budget. The country's hard-won independence was undermined by Fianna Fáil's cavalier...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Speeds (16 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Ireland’s telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband services, is, in the first instance, a matter for private sector service providers who operate in a fully liberalised market, regulated by the independent regulator, the Commission for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Legislative Programme (16 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Since March 2011 there have been three Bills initiated by me and brought through the legislative process to completion. The first was the Access to Central Treasury Funds (Commission for Energy Regulation) Bill 2011, which comprised two sections. While no Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIA) was completed specifically for this Bill, a full RIA was undertaken with respect to the provisions of the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Mobile Telephony Services Provision (16 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The provision of mobile telecommunications services networks within Ireland's competitive telecommunications market is subject to a requirement to secure a wireless telegraphy licence to access the required radio spectrum. The award of such licenses, the imposition of terms and conditions to access that spectrum and the associated monitoring of compliance by licensed providers with those...

Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Sit down, Mattie.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Sale of State Assets (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: In February 2012 the Government agreed to sell the competitive energy business of Bord Gáis Éireann (BGE), namely Bord Gáis Energy. Bord Gáis Energy comprises the following businesses: - A leading energy supply business in Ireland, servicing over 700,000 customers in the gas and electricity markets, - A 445 MW gas fired power station at Whitegate in Co. Cork, - A large...

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

Pat Rabbitte: I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 146 together. Ireland's telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The market has since developed into a well-regulated market, supporting a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. Details of broadband...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Alternative Energy Projects (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: In January of this year the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Mr. Ed Davey MP and I signed a Memorandum of Understanding on energy cooperation. That Memorandum sent a strong signal of our shared interest in developing the opportunity to export green electricity from Ireland to Britain and will result in completion of consideration of how Irish renewable energy resources,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: National Postcode System Implementation (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: On 8 October I announced the Government had approved, subject to contract, the launch of a national postcode system in 2015. Subject to contract, the preferred bidder will design and run the postcode under license for an initial ten year period extendable at the discretion of the Minister for Communications by a further five years. The new postcode system will provide a unique code to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff Scheme Expenditure (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The primary support mechanisms for renewable energy, including wind farms, are the Alternative Energy Requirement (AER) schemes and the Renewable Energy Feed-In-Tariff (REFIT) schemes. These schemes were introduced to incentivise the development of the renewable electricity generation capacity necessary to allow Ireland to meet its target of 40% of electricity demand from renewable...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Mobile Telephony Services Provision (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I refer to the reply to Question No. 66 of 16 October 2013 on the same matter. The position is unchanged.

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I am pleased to commence the debate in this House on the Gas Regulation Bill 2013 and thank the Leader and the House for the early scheduling of this legislation. This is not a long Bill. However, the proposals contained in it are both important and significant. It will implement the Government decision of February 2012 on the sale of State assets by ensuring the retention of the strategic...

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I thank all of the Senators who thoughtfully contributed to the Bill. However, a great deal of the debate has focused on two or three key areas. I shall commence by responding to Senator Daly. He is not the only Member of the House to question whether, as he put it, this is a wise move and said he finds it disturbing. The truth is that I probably would not have brought the Bill before the...

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I do not want to follow her example myself.

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: They did. That is right. Unfortunately the country suffered because the investment that might have come, in terms of broadband infrastructure over the intervening years, did not happen.

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Unfortunately the company was asset stripped which was a great pity. The company has now made a tremendous revival and is engaged on a very significant programme in the economy regarding the roll-out of fibre, an immensely valuable initiative. Senator Mullen is fair to question whether we have learned anything from the past. I think that we have learned the merit of retaining networks in...

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I think we have done that. They are capped at the Taoiseach's salary of €200,000, but his salary nowadays is €100,000 less than what it was when his predecessor was in office. I refer to Senator Ó Clochartaigh's query about the Corrib gasfield. The company will have to make a new application to the Environmental Protection Agency for an integrated pollution prevention...

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: It is "Yes I will try" because I am persuaded of the value of an argument where it concerns that economic viability. I presume it is the location of Sligo vis-à-vis the network because one presumes that a town of the density of Sligo ought to be economically-----

Seanad: Gas Regulation Bill 2013: Second Stage (17 Oct 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: That is a factor in the economic assessment that is done. I do not know whose questions I have failed to answer. I will have to go down with Senator Healy Eames and go up this boreen with her to establish where the gas has stopped in the middle of the road. I did not know about that.