Results 20,301-20,320 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Renewable Energy - Wind, Solar and Biogas: Discussion (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: At a separate committee hearing we interviewed the chair designate, now chair, of EirGrid, Mr. Brendan Tuohy. On that occasion I made the point that we must start in the Irish Sea but also start now on our west coast. I say that because, as we know from experience, it takes between ten and 15 years at least to develop big scale infrastructure projects.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Renewable Energy - Wind, Solar and Biogas: Discussion (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I assume that the ENTSO-E ten-year plan is the place to put those sorts of projects, to get European funding or for it to be co-ordinated between the north-west European electricity market system. Is that a fair assumption? Is anyone working with SuperNode at the moment on the technology that it has?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Renewable Energy - Wind, Solar and Biogas: Discussion (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I did some work on this area, in a former life, and I agree with Mr. Fitzgerald. It seems to me that we reached the conclusion that an independent system operator would be the best way to manage the overall process. How would Mr. Fitzgerald rate the political chance of that happening any time soon?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: My apologies for not being here for the earlier hearing. In terms of meetings, this committee tends to clash with the Joint Committee on Climate Action of which I am also a member.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I will start with a climate-related question. As previously stated by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, there are financial downside risks to our failing to meet our climate targets, including potential fines. There are also spending requirements in terms of what we need to do. Much of what we need to do will be supported by private finance but the public buildings retrofit, which is a...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Returning to the national development plan, I presume the ten-year capital window factored in an assumption of 4% growth. That might not necessarily provide much leeway given that everyone will be looking for their slice of whatever was committed to.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Did the council use the national development plan as a base in assessing priority choices and is it the best projection in terms of our available resources, or is there room above or below it?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: The problem is that the cost of the national children's hospital project, among others, has doubled.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I understand there was a meeting in the OECD last Thursday or Friday on the issue of corporation tax, tax harmonisation and the possibility of a minimum corporate tax rate. At a meeting of this committee a few weeks ago, I put the following suggestion to the Minister for Finance. If the minimum corporate tax rate was set at 10% or 12.5%, would it have a stabilising effect in terms of...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Private debt is down to 77% of GNI. Should we take that into account, as well as looking at Government debt, and make decisions on that basis?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (4 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: I should have said sunk debt.

Confidence in the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government: Motion [Private Members] (3 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: When history looks back on this Government, one of the most severe criticisms will be that what was a very good national planning framework, which sought to bring life back into the centre, was abandoned in a national development plan that was all about sprawl. When we talk of housing and no confidence in the Government's housing policy, it is inexorably connected to transport; the two go...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (3 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: That is important for enterprise and also for the finance community. If we look down the road just a little, AIB has stated that it is going green. Its neighbour, Barclays Bank, was cited recently by Mr. Bill McKibben, a famous climate campaigner, as one of the top ten worst banks and financial institutions for lending to the fossil fuel sector. That sector will increasingly be at risk as...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (3 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: 43. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if her Department has had engagement with the task force on climate-related financial disclosures; and if she is considering promoting new auditing structures for businesses with regard to carbon emissions. [50376/19]

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (3 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: The task force on climate-related financial disclosure is one of the key initiatives to try to steer the enterprise sector towards supporting climate action. It was founded in 2015 and the first status report was released in 2017, with a further update this year. It is critical for Irish business to be at the head of this and leading rather than following, which is what is currently...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (3 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: It appears that Ireland is not connected to this at all. As far as I can see, only two companies are involved in any way in this process, AIB and the Euronext Dublin Stock Exchange. What are some of the large publicly quoted companies in this country? They all have significant climate risks. They include Glanbia, the Kerry Group, CRH and Ryanair, and have exposure because they are in high...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Biotechnology Industry (3 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: If we are to have a proper bioeconomy we need a wider national land use plan, one which maps our approach to climate change and the biodiversity crisis and recognises that all different end uses are interconnected - what we do in forestry, how we restore peatlands and what type of farming takes place where. That wider national land use plan would give us a better idea of what limits we can...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Article 15 of the European Union regulation on the governance of the energy union and climate action indicates that the Government must make a submission on 1 January 2020 on a new national energy and climate action plan. It is the most important plan for the country and determines how we will meet the Paris climate commitments. It sets out the fines, etc., we will have and must, as already...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: Ladies first.

Freagra ar Eascairí - Return of Writs: Cork North-Central, Dublin Fingal, Dublin Mid-West and Wexford - Introduction of New Members (3 Dec 2019)

Eamon Ryan: On behalf of my colleagues and Deputy Healy, I welcome the four new Deputies to this House. I agree with Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett that we must reflect on the participation in our democratic system. It is a major honour to be elected and be part of our constitutional Republic. The very centre of this and the source of everything we do in this country is the vote and the fact that the...