Results 2,001-2,020 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Postcode System Establishment (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: There is close discussion on this. I understand the Deputy recently questioned the new chairman of An Post when he was before the relevant Oireachtas committee. An Post is behind this proposal. It acknowledges that as the only country in the OECD that does not have a national postcode system, we have to get on with it. It sees possibilities in it for the generation of business that cannot...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Petroleum and Gas Exploration (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: As stated in the Deputy’s question, suggestions of viable, lucrative and supra-normal profit generating finds are speculative. This type of speculation is regrettably inconsistent - I wish it were not - with experience to date. In over 40 years of exploration there have been four commercial natural gas discoveries in the Irish offshore, namely, the Kinsale, Ballycotton and Seven...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Offshore Exploration (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I wish to reassure the Deputy that the consolidation we are discussing here was predicted in the environmental impact statement submitted in support of the application to construct the pipeline. It is expected to reinstate itself over a short duration as the TBM process progresses. The Deputy inquired as to whether we are solely dependent on the word of the company. That is not the case....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Offshore Exploration (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I am always delighted to visit north Mayo. I assure the residents that there is no danger involved.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Electricity Generation (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The public service obligation, PSO, levy has been in place since 2001. It is the overall support mechanism for peat generation for certain conventional means of generation constructed for security of supply purposes and for the development of renewable electricity. The levy is designed to compensate electricity suppliers for the additional costs they incur by purchasing electricity...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Electricity Generation (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: In view of the dates I outlined in respect of the end of the PSO, I agree with the Deputy that it is time that we should begin to consider this matter. I cannot dispute what he says with regard to efficiency, emissions and so on. However, in addition to what I stated in my original answer, the PSO also applies in order to protect employment. Bord na Móna is a major employer in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Electricity Generation (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I would be happy to examine that matter. Even if we were to return to Europe in order to obtain approval for a new PSO or for an extension of the current one, the indications are that neither of these might be forthcoming. Edenderry is a co-fired station and could certainly be adapted. However, technical constraints apply in respect of the other two stations. The ESB is currently...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Electricity Transmission Network (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The operation of the electricity grid is a matter for the commercial State companies concerned and is not one in which I have a function; neither do have I a role in making a statement on the operation of the grid in another jurisdiction. However, on a more general note, my views and the views of Government on energy infrastructure, which includes the electricity grid, are outlined clearly...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Electricity Transmission Network (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The thrust of electricity policy is towards integration. There is an all-island market on this island and it is functioning very efficiently. However, the Deputy is correct that meshing the two systems is desirable and very important. The critical piece of infrastructure between Tyrone and Meath is necessary for that. It is estimated, not least by the regulator, that the cost of not...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Electricity Transmission Network (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The completion of the internal energy market was a major issue during the Irish Presidency. We managed to progress the file on that issue quite significantly. It is important, however, to draw a distinction. Completion of the internal energy market by 2014, and if memory serves we have a two year derogation, is to deal with the policy aspects in terms of design, regulation and so forth....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Electricity Transmission Network (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Yes, there is indeed.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Offshore Exploration (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I can confirm for the Deputy that the Corrib developers have notified my Department about depressions in Sruwaddacon Bay, which are caused by air escaping during tunnel boring machine "intervention" maintenance, and I wish to confirm that these depressions are not sinkholes. To clarify, the tunnel boring machine, TBM, being used by the developers to tunnel under Sruwaddacon Bay for the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Employee Shareholding Scheme (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: An Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) was put in place in the ESB in 2001. The ESOP was an element of the Cost and Competitiveness Review (CCR) agreed between the Government, ESB Management and ESB Group of Unions in 1996. Under the CCR, 5% of the shares in ESB were made available to employees, without actual cash transfer from the employees in return for specific, substantial,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Speeds (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, has established a callcosts website which provides information to the public on the alternative broadband services marketed by competing service providers on a county by county basis. ComReg does not publish averages of the available broadband speeds. The ESRI published a working paper last year, based on the callcosts data, which...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Sugar Industry (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The Government is committed to increasing renewable energy in the electricity, transport and heating sectors in order to meet the binding target of 16% of all energy to come from renewable sources as set out in the EU Renewable Energy Directive. Currently, Ireland imports around 90% of its fuel to meet demand at a cost of approximately €6bn per annum. Developing indigenous renewable...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Alternative Energy Projects (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The REFIT scheme for biomass (REFIT3), which was opened in February 2012, is designed to incentivise the addition of 310 MW of renewable electricity capacity to the Irish electricity grid. The technologies being supported include anaerobic digestion and biomass combined heat and power. REFIT3 also provides incentives for co-firing of biomass in peat powered generation plants. The scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Alternative Energy Projects (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I am advised by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) that the wave energy developers to which the Deputy refers have all received payment in respect of funding approved and allocated for their projects with the exception of one, which was deemed to be of insufficient technical merit and, therefore, was not approved for funding. All of the approved projects were completed...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Wind Energy Guidelines (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I propose to take Question Nos. 18 and 40 together. The Wind Energy Planning Guidelines were developed by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government in 2006 to offer advice to planning authorities with regard to their preparation of Development Plans and their consideration of applications for planning permission from wind farm developers. The Guidelines were issued...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Provision (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The Digital Agenda for Europe set out specific targets for the achievement of high speed broadband services across all Member States. Ireland’s National Broadband Plan which I published in August last, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed services of 30Mbps are available to all of our citizens and businesses in advance of the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Electricity Transmission Network (17 Jul 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The interconnected power systems of Ireland and Northern Ireland form a single synchronous power system and all electricity generated on the island is traded in the Single Electricity Market (SEM), the wholesale electricity market for the island of Ireland, regulated jointly by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) and its counterpart in Belfast, the Utility Regulator (UR). The Irish...