Results 1,501-1,520 of 7,126 for speaker:Alan Farrell

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (22 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: 237. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the detail of the grant aid and support programmes overseen by her Department which encourage businesses to build their online presence and compete in the online marketplace; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8900/17]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services: Business of Committee (22 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: Deputy Heydon also extends his apologies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services: Public Water Forum (22 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: I thank the delegations for being here. I would like to focus on the questions already posed in relation to refunds which fall to Ms Graham as the Department official although I would value the opinion of the other witnesses. We know the cost of the collection of payments and set up of the system and so on. If we were analysing ten years of receipts we would be having a different...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services: Public Water Forum (22 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: Fine. I will be unique and I will be happy enough with that. If refunding the money that was collected is going to cost us a huge amount surely we should be exploring every avenue. One such avenue is credits on utilities as opposed to tax credits, which, again, would be a massive administrative task. Given Ervia' s involvement in Irish Water and in other institutions that are in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services: Public Water Forum (22 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: The conservation issue is quite broad. In terms of the blunt instrument that it is proposed to use in respect of those not subject to district metering and-or other measures, perhaps the committee needs to delve further into what is conservation and how we, as members of the Oireachtas, promote conservation. There is a body of evidence that shows that conservation and a reduction in water...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services: Public Water Forum (22 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: In that case, I will ask a specific question on the setting of the free allowance. It relates directly to fairness and equity for all consumers. How broadly or finely does the rate have to be set in terms of overall domestic usage and national consumption rates as a result of the installation of meters?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services: Public Water Forum (22 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: I appreciate that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services: Public Water Forum (22 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: I actually received a paper on that recently. Somebody obviously had the same thoughts as Ms O'Brien. I have a question on Professor Collins's point on vulnerable households and excess use, particularly for medical needs. It also concerns the financial side. If we had an excessive usage charge in place and if there were a vulnerable household that was not necessarily recognised as such,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: I welcome the witnesses. I have a number of short questions about some of the subheads. The main one, which was touched on earlier by Deputy Connolly, relates to the environmental element of some of the programmes. An additional sum of €74 million was allocated in respect of and spent on heavy rail in 2015. At what point does Mr. Doyle think the Department and its agencies will...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: I appreciate that the figures relate to 2015 and that there was only a month between November 2015 and the end of the financial year. What sort of spend has been invested in that? I know the project was on the cards previously.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: That is a substantially longer line.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: How many years will it take to remove the diesel network? Presumably, we will be in a position where we will have to buy new locomotives, as opposed to switching to different models. Clearly, the network is not there. At what point do we say we need to stop buying engines and start putting up electrical cables?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: I will posit a view, which does not need Mr. Doyle's response, that there will come a point - if we have not already reached it - where further investment in the network will cost more in the long term than going down the electrical route due to fuel and other costs. I accept Mr. Doyle's point regarding the capital plan. I am a firm supporter of it. Clearly, my constituents would be great...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: Mr. Doyle should forgive my lack of knowledge. I am not aware of the terminology. The spend on the previous project to get it to a certain point on paper has been estimated at approximately €180 million. We have been told on a number of occasions that the vast majority of the product of that investment is being reused in the new metro north. Could Mr. Doyle comment on that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: The original project was estimated at a particular cost to the Exchequer at a particular moment in time. The new proposal is coming in significantly cheaper than that but one of the main concerns for a certain cohort of my constituents and beyond on the north side of Dublin is the capacity issue for the metro and its linkages with the existing network. In terms of the planning and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: With the knock-on effects of implications for the Department's expenditure envelope and for the capital plan, in the savings of the envisaged new project and the old project, am I right in saying that figure is in the region of €1 billion?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: Sorry, I meant the metro north project.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: On the issue of the greater Dublin area, GDA, and future planning, have there been any studies on future planning for outer orbital transport for the city or county of Dublin, either auditing wise or on other expenditures? As a former councillor since 2004, not unlike my colleague Deputy Connolly, although not for as many years as she, I am aware of the spatial strategies of two or three...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: To Mr. Doyle's knowledge, is that going to be out for public consumption any time soon?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 31 - Transport, Tourism and Sport (23 Feb 2017)

Alan Farrell: It would be important to get a fix on that.