Results 12,781-12,800 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Provision (27 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published in August 2012, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses. This will be achieved by providing:- a policy and regulatory framework that assists in accelerating and incentivising commercial investment, and - a State-led...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Provision (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Government's National Broadband Plan, which I published in August 2012, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses. This will be achieved by providing a policy and regulatory framework that assists in accelerating and incentivising commercial investment, and a State-led intervention for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Semi-State Bodies (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: There are 7 Commercial Semi State Companies under the aegis of my Department - An Post, Bord Gáis Éireann, Bord na Móna, Eirgrid, ESB, RTE and TG4. The information sought regarding the current credit rating of all Commercial Semi States operating under the aegis of my Department is an operational matter for each Company. I will request the relevant bodies to reply directly to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I am glad to appear before the committee. We can leave the defamation to the weekend. I do not think we need to go over that here. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the forthcoming Telecommunications and Energy Councils on 6 and 9 June, respectively. I will begin by dealing with the Telecommunications Council. I understand the committee already has a copy of the draft agenda and I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The discussion to which Deputy Moynihan refers will be a lunchtime discussion of the type which almost always occurs following a Council of Ministers meeting and focuses on a particular subject. In this particular instance, the subject is that of Internet governance. In my view, we are a long way from being able to define trans-European law on the issue of Internet governance. We have an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The reason I asked Dr. O'Neill six months ago to chair this group of experts was precisely to give us up to date guidance on that. I am a bit sceptical about our ability to give expression in law to measures in this area and it would have to be very carefully evaluated. If there were simple answers to this, other countries would have produced them by now. There are no simple answers and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The short answer to the first question is that the discussion will be helpful in what we are seeking to do here. We would like to think that many of the measures we highlighted in the broadband task force presaged much of the debate happening now in Europe. We brought together the main players in the industry with Department officials, chaired by me, with the regulator and representatives...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I intend to do so, if the Chairman so wishes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I do not wish to interrupt Deputy Colreavy but we are talking about two different Councils. I am happy to deal with the Deputy's first question. I will take his energy question under the Energy Council, but they are two separate meetings.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: It is, but I understood it was sequential.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: On the telecommunications side, this proposal from the Commission, called the "Connected Continent: Building a Telecoms Single Market", is a package that emerged as recently as September last year. It is phenomenally complex, very comprehensive and, from the point of view of the Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, deserves urgent attention. It is not fair to say there is not an agenda. There is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The heavy lifting on this is being done by the working group. There is a working group of people who have expertise in the area. As Deputy Moynihan said earlier, we cannot all have masters degrees in the high tech aspect of some of these decisions and so forth. That is the reason we retain experts to guide us. The heavy lifting will be done by the working group, but there will be a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Energy Council will be held on 13 June. We have made the agenda available to the committee. It includes completion of the Internal Market in energy, international energy relations and, in particular, the value of multilateral frameworks to promote climate and energy policy goals. To outline the context, the recent informal meeting of energy Ministers which I attended in Athens on 15...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: PCIs are projects of common interest. In terms of the policy objective of realising the completion of the internal energy market, a great deal of it has to do with network codes and such issues, but obviously the physical infrastructure is important. If all of the legal regulatory and other work can be done in respect of concluding the objective of an internal energy market, we then have to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Is there too much focus on the needs of companies in respect of energy as compared to the focus on consumers? There is a reasonable balance. It is important that small and large energy users have access to energy as competitively priced as they can source because they give employment. Wearing their other hats, consumers are workers in these companies and it would be damaging to employment...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: If Deputy Michael Colreavy permits me, I will answer the question of Deputy McEntee first as she must leave the meeting. I have described the projects of common interest in the lingo of the Union. Each member state puts forward what it thinks are projects that qualify as projects of common interest. Then, the battle takes place to access funding. Even when it is designated a project of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I am not dismissing anything. The Deputy is dismissing the planning process. Suppose we had the EPA study and it said the technology is perfectly safe, a developer came along and there was a project. It would have to go through the whole environmental impact assessment, including the impact on human life and the human impact. The hoops that have to be jumped through are extremely rigorous...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I think the Department is extraordinarily sensitive in respect of this debate and that we have proceeded with great caution. The Government which preceded this one approved some very basic desk top studies, and no more than that. There has not been any fracking. We are engaged in examination and the environmental impact assessment which accompanies this measures the social impact as well...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Provision (4 Jun 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published in August 2012, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses. This will be achieved by providing:- a policy and regulatory framework that assists in accelerating and incentivising commercial investment, and - a State-led...