Results 14,981-15,000 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Efficiency (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: My Department funds a number of SEAI grant schemes to support homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. Partial grants are available for individuals who can afford to contribute to the cost of upgrades as well as free energy efficiency retrofits for people at risk of energy poverty. Since 2000, around 450,000 homeowners have upgraded their homes with support from...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Data Centres (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Government policy in relation to data centres is primarily a matter for the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The Government Statement on the role of data centres in Ireland's Enterprise Strategy, 2018 recognises that a plan-led approach is needed to develop a range of measures to promote regional options for data centre investment, minimising the need for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The Programme for Government commits Ireland to achieving an average 7% per annum reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030 and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. This will require a significant shift away from fossil fuels and a corresponding increase in the use of renewable energy across all sectors. Currently 12% of the energy we consume is from renewable...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The Shared Island Dialogue series was launched by the Taoiseach last October as part of the Government’s Shared Island Initiative andis central to our Shared Island approach, working with the Northern Ireland Executive and the British Government to address shared strategic challenges, in ambitious and effective partnership, founded on the Good Friday Agreement. Alongside PEACE PLUS,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: North-South Interconnector (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 82, 86 , 86   and  88  together. The North-South Interconnector is critical to improving the efficient operation of the all-island single electricity market and increasing security of electricity supply in Ireland and Northern Ireland. It will also help Ireland to move towards 70% renewable electricity by 2030....

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The programme for Government commits to an annual average 7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 2030. While Irish agriculture has a positive international reputation in terms of producing high quality, sustainable produce, emissions from the agri-food sector have continued to increase. The long-term challenge for the sector is to achieve carbon neutrality, while not...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools. I am...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The Celtic Interconnector is a €1 billion electricity interconnector jointly proposed by EirGrid and their French counterparts, the French transmission system operator, RTÉ (Reseau de Transporte d’Électricite). It is proposed as a 575km long (500km subsea), 700MW cable from the north-west coast of France to the south coast of Ireland. At this scale it would be able to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Data Protection (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: On the 10th February, agreement was reached by Member States on a mandate to enter negotiations with the European Parliament on the Regulation concerning the respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications and repealing Directive 2002/58/EC (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications), colloquially known as the ePrivacy Regulation. Prior to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Cybersecurity Policy (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The 2019 National Cyber Security Strategy set out a series of measures to further improve and develop the capacity of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). In order to assess the capacity of the NCSC to deliver its objectives as set out in the strategy, an external review of the NCSC has been commissioned. The capacity review, which commenced in January 2021, will examine the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Under the Climate Action Plan 2019, a Climate Action Charter for Local Authorities was agreed between my Department and the Local Authorities. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government were consulted as part of this process. The goal of the Charter is to ensure that every Local Authority embeds decarbonisation, sustainable development and climate resilience into...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electricity Generation (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The Programme for Government commits to prioritising the development of micro-generation to help citizens generate their own renewable electricity for their own use, for example from solar panels on their roofs, and allow people sell excess electricity back to the grid by July 2021.A Micro-Generation working group, chaired by my Department, is developing an enabling framework for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools. Design work is complete...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 121 together.   The Programme for Government sets out that as Ireland moves towards carbon neutrality, it does not make sense to develop LNG projects importing fracked gas. It further commits to ensuring the Shannon LNG project is not included in the EU Projects of Common Interest list in 2021. I have previously confirmed that if an LNG...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: There is currently no legislation in Ireland dealing specifically with environmental light pollution, and my Department has no role in this regard. I am advised that the amount of light that might emanate from a proposed development is considered in assessing individual planning applications on a case by case basis. However, there is no specific national strategy in place in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 101 and 174 together. The Covid 19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of good reliable broadband to ensure that citizens across Ireland can avail of remote working, education and other essential online facilities. This is reflected in the commitments in the Programme for Government where delivery of the National Broadband Plan will be a key enabler to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Change Policy (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: As set out in the Programme for Government, we are committed to an average 7% per annum reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030, equivalent to a 51% reduction over the decade and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, in line with EU ambitions.  I am currently working with colleagues across Government on a new Climate Action Plan which will include...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 105 a  and  124  together. The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 544,000 premises,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The Programme for Government notes the importance of community energy in delivering on our 70% renewable electricity target by 2030.The first auction in the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) included a dedicated community projects category in which seven community projects were selected for support. In future onshore RESS auctions, there will be further capacity...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (10 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The introduction of new taxes is a matter for the Minister for Finance.However the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy, launched last September, sets out our national strategy for single use plastics and contains a range of ambitious measures for dealing with these items. The Plan details the measures Ireland is taking under the Single Use Plastics Directive to prohibit certain...