Results 15,521-15,540 of 21,588 for speaker:Denis Naughten

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: North-South Interconnector (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: Eirgrid is a commercial State company which holds the licence, from the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, as transmission system operator (TSO) in Ireland, in accordance with EU and Irish law. CRU issued the licence to Eirgrid under S.14(1)(e) of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 on 20th June 2001. In this role as transmission system operator, EirGrid, as the national authority,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Implementation (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area, and is now evaluating the Final Tender submission received from the bidding consortium on 18 September 2018. This is a significant milestone as the NBP procurement process enters its final stage. For those premises currently awaiting access...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: North-South Interconnector (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: I propose to take Questions Nos. 517 and 518 together. In July this year I sought reports from the Energy Regulator, and electricity and gas transmission system operators (Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, Eirgrid, Gas Networks Ireland) on the implications for the electricity market in Ireland in the event of a hard Brexit, including for the Single Electricity Market (SEM), for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Expenditure (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment - along with a number of other government departments - has a strong annual presence at the National Ploughing Championships. 2018 was the second year the Department had its own marquee at the event, and the exhibition space housed stands from a number of the Department’s divisions and agencies and initiatives being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: I thank the Chair and the committee for inviting me this afternoon and I welcome the opportunity to meet the committee to consider the mid-term expenditure position and performance across the six Vote programmes within my Department. I will keep my opening statement brief to allow the committee sufficient time to examine the programme expenditure to the outturn at the end of June. I am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: On the national broadband plan, the expenditure relates to the required activities under each phase of the programme. Due to the complexity of the procurement process and the scale of the project, it can be difficult to accurately forecast the monthly expenditure on an annual basis. For example, expenditure on certain activities in a particular month or quarter may not be reflected until...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: I understand that procurement documentation, which was issued to all bidders in 2016, sets out a mechanism for the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment to assess and approve or reject any changes in the membership of the bidders. It is appropriate for such a mechanism to be put in place for a procurement process of this scale and duration. I have been advised that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: I have had a number of discussions with David McCourt about this project. There was a discussion in New York. I am not privy to the exact detail of that at the moment. We can get the detail for the Deputy. A full minute is available and we can furnish it to the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: I met Mr. McCourt and his brother Frank in New York in July. I am aware that the Deputy, and many other Members here, have met with Mr. McCourt at different stages. The only issue raised in relation to the consortium was with regard to SSE. At that discussion Mr. McCourt made the point that a request may be put into the Department for an evaluation around a change in the consortium. That...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: Not at all because it is not a functional role for me and at no stage have I ever given any indication regarding anything like that. I have no input or role in that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: I have confidence in the procurement process. It has been long, detailed and frustratingly slow, particularly for the 543,000 families, businesses, farms and schools across the country that have been waiting on high-speed broadband. All of these matters are part of the evaluation that is ongoing at the moment, and I am not going to comment on the detail of that evaluation. It is taking...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: As I have said on numerous occasions in the House and at this committee, this is not a normal tender or procurement process. I have explained that in detail. This is a competitive dialogue procurement process. It is unusual in an Irish context to have such a process. It is unusual to have such a large project here. A competitive dialogue procurement process is the only type of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: The spend under subhead A3, ICT programmes, to the end of June was €3.9 million. The spend to the end of September was €6.7 million, of which €5.6 million related to the NBP. The €15 million that was allocated was for the national broadband plan. The variation is due, in the main, to the lower than anticipated expenditure levels on the NBP, which reflected the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: On Deputy Stanley's question, this is a competitive dialogue procurement process. If one was building a house, one would go for a standard tender, such as a four-bedroom, three-bedroom, two-bedroom, one-bedroom or five or six-bedroom house, and it is easy to set the specifications for that. However, Science Foundation Ireland, for example, holds a number of different competitions where it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: I will come back to Deputy Stanley with one comment. The EIB funding will be drawn down by the bidder rather than the State. In response to Deputy Eamon Ryan, as part of this competitive dialogue and procurement process, all of the bidders in this process would have had to prove at various stages during the procurement process that they had the capacity and financial resources to deliver...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: Granahan McCourt is the bidder in this process. It has nominated a number of key sub-contractors. That would have been part of the documentation it submitted on 18 September. They include Enet, Nokia, Actavo, the Kelly Group and KN Group. They are involved in the delivery of the broadband contract across the country.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: Enet has not pulled out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: I am in a difficult position in that I am basing what I am saying on the information that has been presented to me. I am not directly involved in this procurement process. I am relaying the information I have received from the procurement team to the Deputy. The bidder, Granahan McCourt, issued a statement on 18 September outlining the people involved in this bid and their role. Any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: RTÉ and TG4 are funded through a mix of commercial revenues obtained largely from advertising, Exchequer grant payments and licence fee revenues. Broadcasting licensing fee receipts are estimated to be €222 million in 2018. The broadcasting programme provides for €190.7 million in television licence fee receipts to RTÉ to enable the company to meet its statutory...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (2 Oct 2018)

Denis Naughten: On the TV licence, the payments to RTÉ as of June this year were €91.1 million, and are €2 million ahead of payments for the same period last year.