Results 19,661-19,680 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I thank the committee for this opportunity to present details of the Supplementary Estimate for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The purpose of this Supplementary Estimate is to provide the necessary funding for the electricity costs emergency benefit scheme within the energy transformation programme of my Department. The Government is acutely aware of the...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Deputy is right that this is an incredibly serious situation that is unprecedented in my lifetime on the European continent. Unfortunately, she is also correct when she says that the likely prognosis is for ongoing high energy costs. We had thought, prior to the invasion and war, that energy prices would start to come down because they were already very high. That is now less certain....

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: ESB profits are shared out in a variety of ways. That happens, for example, through dividends to the State. The ESB has a critical role in the roll-out of new renewable generation, which is how we will reduce our dependence on Russian fossil fuels. It also has a critical role in the building out of the distribution grid, the smart metering network and the energy efficiency measures that we...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Regarding the inflationary effects of energy price rises, particularly the rising cost of gas, which is driving up the cost of electricity, it was clear in most of the second half of last year that we were going to have to do something. It relates to one of the measures we had in mind in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, which was to use some of the carryover...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: It is centre stage in everything. We must have a just transition, which is why it involves two thirds of spending going on those sorts of 100% grant-aided schemes. However, it is not that alone. It goes back to the budget in October, which was specifically designed in that way. The decision to not only target the fuel allowance but include a mix of qualified child allowance, living alone...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I think the Deputy is right that we do need to target more and in various ways. One way we will do that is with the new applications to the warmer home scheme We will do that once we have cleared the backlog, which will be done quickly, of 7,000 houses that built up during the pandemic. We are looking at the pre-1993 houses because the building regulations were changed in 1991. Houses...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: This credit mechanism will kick in next month, not in six months' time. People will see it in their bills at the end of April or in the first week of May.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: We have had ongoing discussions with the European Commission. As I said earlier, it will be coming out with further revisions to the rule book and there are a variety of different mechanisms being used across Europe. Deputy Bríd Smith mentioned some of the price caps. Other mechanisms, such as revenues from the emissions trading system, ETS, and VAT, have been used. There are a...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: It is not told exactly what houses it should go to or could go to. Many of the houses in the social housing stock and in the warmer homes scheme will not use the one-stop-shop. They would not want to go to pace until they are 100% grant aided. With the remaining housing stock, we must get to every single house in the next three decades at the latest. We must accelerate that. It will not...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I am trying to finish for 1.30 p.m.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I understand the committee also engaged this morning with some of the officials from my Department on offshore renewables. One of the things we have been working on, and which we have agreed in the Cabinet subcommittee, is the establishment of new delivery task forces that would accelerate key areas for our climate ambitions, such as just transition, climate communications, and land use...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I agree, not only there but also with modular housing and in other areas. We need to act in education. How will we deal with some of the people coming in? I agree with the Chairman about sustainable mobility. Where that worked during the Covid pandemic was through the local authorities. This must be something that comes from the bottom up. We need to be really flexible and fast but we...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: My officials are in discussions with Fuels for Ireland which is the industry representative body. We have supplies to meet normal demand. They are slightly nervous about that sort of profiteering or storing and that is why they have introduced some measures to discourage that, as reported in today's newspapers. If everyone keeps their head and follows proper processes, we will have...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (8 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: We have all sorts of plans to deal with a supply shortage at which point various different plans kick in, but we are nowhere near that and I do not expect to be. We will look at further measures but it cannot be a cure-all because the price rise is so large. I will also be looking at a range of efficiency measures in the coming weeks to help people reduce their usage. That will be the key...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Public Service Obligation (10 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I would refer the Deputy to his previous question 19379/21, where I stated in my response the Government does not receive revenue from the PSO levy.The Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy is charged to all electricity final customers in Ireland and is collected from customers by electricity suppliers.  The PSO levy is a vital policy support for the development of...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Fishing Industry (10 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I refer the Deputy to the response to Question No. 243 of 1 February 2022.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (10 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: New regulations on the use of solid fuels for domestic heating in Ireland, which will take effect from September next, do not prohibit the use of solid fuels. They instead introduce minimum standards that will apply across all solid fuels, to ensure that the most polluting can no longer be made available on the Irish market and to assist the public in transitioning to less polluting...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Electric Vehicles (10 Mar 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The SEAI grant scheme aims to encourage behavioral change and support the Government’s commitment to achieving a 51% reduction in transport emissions by 2030. The grant schemes are kept under continuous review to ensure that they are as effective as possible in driving the decarbonisation effort. In the past year, many new BEVs with ranges of over 400km on a single charge have been...