Results 1,181-1,200 of 1,773 for speaker:Lynn Boylan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Pesticide Use (26 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Seanadóir Hackett. I raise this issue on the back of reports we heard in the media of several raptors having been found poisoned in the midlands, particularly the white-tailed eagle found dead between Lough Ramar in County Cavan and Loch Sheelin in County Westmeath in November 2022. I have raised the matter of toxicology tests before in...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Pesticide Use (26 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: I thank the Minister of State for her response. I share her concerns. I reiterate the message to people that poisoning is illegal but also that we are in a biodiversity crisis. It was declared a number of years ago and we have to protect as much of our wildlife as possible. There should be zero tolerance for anybody who is engaging in such activities. The figures for the pilot project...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: I am having the morning from hell.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: I definitely was not down to speak first. On the Order of Business this morning, I will raise a story that some Senators might have seen when it was first published in the Irish Independentin October. It is about how households have been subsidising large energy users, including data centres and pharmaceutical companies, for the last 12 years. We do not yet know the full figures because...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: I would like a back-and-forth in my five minutes if that is acceptable because I have some specific questions to ask. On the story about large energy users being subsidised by domestic users and the practice of rebalancing tariffs, which went on for 12 years, I understand the Minister contacted what would have been the Commission for Energy Regulation in 2009 to ask that the rebalancing be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: Did the commission note that domestic users were also out of kilter with the rest of the EU? We just have high energy costs in this country.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: I wish to stop Ms MacEvilly but do not mean to be rude. The Government memo from the time states the Government was unwinding the measures for domestic users and that it wanted permanent rebalancing in favour of large energy users, subsidised by the domestic users. The measures that had been put in place for domestic users were being taken away. The memo clearly states this would prove...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: Did the CRU push back or carry out any impact analysis? We are aware there was a financial crisis at the time and that we were losing jobs. Equally, we know many hard-pressed families were also in a financial crisis. Did the CRU push back or do any analysis as to how fair the measure would be for domestic users?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: Does Ms Kavanagh have the figures for each year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: But the representatives were not able to give us an answer when the committee asked for the overall figure for the 12 years. It was said the final figure would be reconciled when the arrangement was unwound or closed down. Does the commission have an annual figure or is it still calculating how much it was?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: But the measures stay in place for 12 years. Was there a regular engagement with ESB Networks? The Government's version was that there was going to be a €50 million subvention per annum or a rebalancing in favour of large energy users. What ESB Networks seems to have proposed was that a percentage of the network charges would be skewed in favour of large energy users. Did it come...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: I know I am going over time but that is the key point. Ms Kavanagh is saying that ESB Networks flagged when the CRU stated it was going to unwind it that it actually was not €50 million; it was a percentage. What due diligence had been carried out for the previous 12 years, given that this only came to attention when it was being unwound?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: I do not want to labour the point. There are a couple of things I want to pick up again about that large energy subsidy. When the memo went to the CRU at the time asking for this permanent rebalancing of the networks, I understand it was €25.05 million for the transmission and €24.95 million for the distribution. How did the CRU notify the TSO and the DSO that it would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: What I am trying to get at is how is it that one operator decided to implement it as a flat rate and another, ESB Networks, decided to implement it as a percentage if a very detailed note was sent to them regarding implementation and the subsidy in respect of the rebalancing of the network tariffs? How did one it differ so much from the other one?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: Is that detail included in the annual revenue decisions that are submitted by the DSO and the TSO to the CRU? Do they not go into that level of detail?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment contact the CRU regarding its decision to unwind this rebalancing. In its submission to the CRU, the Department outlined its concerned around the fact that the CRU decided to unwind this. It criticised the lack of consultation and the consultation period. However, it estimated the figure of the subsidy to large energy users that the CRU...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Lynn Boylan: Is it around €70 million?