Results 1,521-1,540 of 5,587 for speaker:Kevin Humphreys

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: If the Bill goes through as currently proposed, it will tie us into a target of a 20% reduction by 2020.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: With regard to the expert advisory board, did Professor Kirby have a chance to look at the fiscal advisory council and its terms of reference? If the expert advisory board was constructed in the same manner as the fiscal advisory council, would that strengthen it? The independence of the Fiscal Advisory Council is recognised in its terms of reference. If the same was the case for the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: The Fiscal Advisory Council was appointed by the Government, but it also gives counter advice to it and does not always go along with Government policy. That is the reason I made my suggestion. If the expert advisory board was strengthened along those lines, it would meet with Professor Kirby's proposal.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: Professor Kirby mentioned in his opening paragraph that conditions written into the outline heads of the Bill may limit the achievements of the proposed decarbonisation. What are the limits written in that impede this?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: Does Professor Kirby think consideration of economic circumstances should not be written into the legislation? Is he saying that section should be extracted?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: Professor Kirby is an expert on this area. If we look at the level of carbon emissions, Ireland is unusual among European countries in regard to our dependency on agriculture. What kind of agricultural industry would we have if we were to achieve a target of 80% reduction in emissions by 2050? There is a sectoral roadmap and emissions in energy and transport are quite low in comparison....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: At the moment, we would have to drop 11 million tonnes from our current output, which is geared for export. Beef and dairy are pasture driven, and Ireland can produce beef and dairy in the most carbon efficient manner in Europe. If we set targets at an individual level rather than at EU level, because we can produce beef and dairy products with a much lower carbon impact, our targets may be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: We are committed at this stage to the Kyoto Agreement and a 20% reduction by 2020 in the heads of this Bill. There are further negotiations in 2015, which will likely tie us to a target of a 40% reduction for 2030. Due to what happened after the Second World War, Europe has a real concern about food security. Does it not make sense to negotiate across the European Union as a body, rather...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: I have a brief question about the targets. The EU Green Paper suggests a 40% reduction by 2030. I am aware that this is only a proposal and that negotiations do not start until 2015. How does Professor Kirby view that 40%? It cannot be done like a switch. A carbon neutral society will be phased in. Does Professor Kirby regard this as a reasonable target to get us moving along those lines?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: That ties in with the Bill because the heads of the Bill tie us into the negotiations. I know Professor Kirby is saying we should have individual targets as a nation but if we are going to tie ourselves into the negotiated targets of 40% after 2015, if that ends up being Ireland's target for 2030 and legally binding through an international agreement, is that a reasonable stepping stone?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: I thank Dr. Ó Gallachóir and certainly, I learned from the documentation he submitted. As for the Irish TIMES model, I had thought The Irish Times was something one read every day, rather than a model for measurement. Dr. Ó Gallachóir introduced something that is relatively new to me, although it has been discussed quite extensively in United Kingdom, namely, the carbon...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: Has Dr. Ó Gallachóir's group calculated the figures and undertaken the modelling in this regard?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: Has Dr. Ó Gallachóir undertaken the modelling that would ascertain what kind of percentage impact it would have on reaching the targets? I acknowledge the science changes all the time and it probably is difficult.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: I revert to the heads of the Bill and the place of the targets. One target contained in the heads of the Bill, on which Dr. Ó Gallachóir touched, is the 20% reduction in emissions from 2005 by 2020 or basically, the terms of the Kyoto agreement. Has Dr. Ó Gallachóir done any modelling on the hitting of the first target, if one calls it that, contained in the heads of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: Yes, the reduction on the 2005 figure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: How far off are we? Has Dr. Ó Gallachóir figures on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: Dr. Ó Gallachóir mentioned that sometimes, as one moves in the direction of reductions, one gets short-term increases in emissions. Is it still viable for Ireland to hit the 2020 target?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: I note the way the figures change. In the Bill, we tie ourselves to anything that is negotiated in 2015 for 2030. We switch then, from a figure of emissions reduction from 2005 of 20% back to the 1990 figure. Dr. Ó Gallachóir stated it would jump, for us, as a 52% reduction. Those figures are correct. There would be a very steep curve going in tandem with these heads of the Bill.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2013: Discussion (2 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: Deputy Corcoran Kennedy has the franchise.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Terms of Reference of Sub-Committee on Global Taxation: Motions (3 Jul 2013)

Kevin Humphreys: In fairness to Deputy Dara Murphy, he has outlined a clear roadmap. It would be unbelievable if the sub-committee were to fail to do due diligence by having representatives of the OECD and Department of Finance, as well as the Minister for Finance, come before it. Such meetings would allow it to obtain a clear and comprehensive understanding of the issues, report back to the joint committee...