Results 2,301-2,320 of 26,565 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (19 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The ORESS Tonn Nua offshore wind auction will be Ireland's second offshore wind auction and the first to take place under the Phase Two plan led approach. Tonn Nua will auction a 900 megawatt site in the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP), approved by the Oireachtas in 2024. The Terms and Conditions for the Tonn Nua Auction were also approved by Government and published on 30...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Bord na Móna (19 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Bord na Móna is a commercial State body under the aegis of my Department and was established under the Turf Development Act 1998. Bord na Móna is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department. Any proposal to sell part of Bord na Móna’s business is subject to regulatory approval, including Ministerial consent and will be considered on receipt of a...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Administrative Arrangements (19 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: No divisions, units or other Departmental structures have been added to or removed from the brief of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to date since the change of Government. My Department is currently following the process and principles outlined in the DPENDER Handbook on Transfers of Functions to give effect to the transfer of functions in and out of my...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Flexible Work Practices (19 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department is currently working to update its remote working policy and arrangements for its staff, primarily focused on incorporating legislation and codes of practice. There are no planned changes to the existing office attendance requirements under the Department's blended working policy, which are currently a minimum two days or 40% office attendance.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Properties (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department is currently compiling the information sought and will revert directly to the Deputy in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Properties (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department is currently compiling the information sought and will revert directly to the Deputy in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Policies (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The National Heat Study, published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), contains detailed analysis that is being used to inform the development of options, policies and measures to decarbonise Ireland’s heating and cooling sectors to 2050. A draft Heat Policy Statement, informed by the findings of the National Heat Study, has been prepared and has undergone extensive...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action Plan (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Climate Action Plan 2025 (CAP25) builds upon the actions, measures, policies and plans set out in Climate Action Plan 2024. A process to update and refine the plan in the context of the latest reports from the Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change Advisory Council and Climate Action Plan progress reports was coordinated by my Department to deliver a multi-stakeholder approach to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Policies (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: A District Heating Steering Group Report (www.gov.ie/en/publication/3f132-district-heating-steering-g roup/) was published in 2023 and contains a suite of recommendations for the development of district heating in Ireland. The General Scheme of the Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024, drafted to give effect to the recommendations of the Steering Group, was approved by...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Data Centres (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is responsible for the regulation of the Irish electricity and natural gas sectors following enactment of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 and subsequent legislation and the Gas (Interim Regulation) Act 2002, respectively. The CRU is an independent regulator accountable to a committee of the Oireachtas. As set out in the Climate Action...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Mining Industry (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Mining activity requires three separate consents obtained from three different agencies:Planning permission from the relevant Local Authority;An Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) or an Industrial Emissions (IE) Licence from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These licences contain strict conditions on how a mine must operate to protect the environment from pollution; andA mining...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Mining Industry (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: In accordance with the Minerals Development Acts 1940-1999, the Minister is required to give public notice of his intention to grant a Prospecting Licence. In this case, the Minister’s notice was published in the Southern Star on 30 January 2025 and also on gov.ie. The public has until 2 March 2025 to make submissions in relation to the Minister’s Intention to grant the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electricity Grid (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: EirGrid is a commercial State body under the aegis of my Department and was established under Regulation 50 of the European Communities (Internal Market in Electricity) Regulations 2000. EirGrid is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department. EirGrid is not funded by the Exchequer. It is funded through revenue primarily derived from regulated tariffs such as the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electricity Grid (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 142 and 143 together. Issues regarding the development of the national electricity grid rest with EirGrid, as Transmission System Operator, and ESB Networks, as Distribution System Operator, who are independent of me as Minister in the exercise of their respective functions. Both entities are overseen by the independent regulator, the Commission for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Funding (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department has not received any funding support for projects from the United States of America International Development for the period in question. In relation to the State Agencies under the aegis of my Department, this is an operational matter for each individual agency. I am asking the Agencies concerned to respond directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Land Issues (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The first phase of the Land-use Review was led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and focused on evidence gathering. The Synthesis Report of Phase 1 and the associated technical outputs were published in March 2023. The Programme for Government 2025, 'Securing Ireland’s Future', has committed to completing the second phase of the Land Use Review with the aim of balancing...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Wind Energy Generation (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The ORESS Tonn Nua offshore wind auction will be Ireland’s second offshore wind auction and the first to take place under the Phase Two plan led approach. Tonn Nua will auction a 900 MW site in the South Coast DMAP, approved by the Oireachtas in October 2024. The Terms and Conditions for the Tonn Nua Auction were also published on 30 October 2024. An updated...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Infrastructure (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As part of the national response to Storm Éowyn, the Inter-Departmental Recovery Group was established. The Group, chaired by my Department, is coordinating actions to restore telecommunications and broadband to those experiencing outages. The Minister for Tourism, Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD met with industry representatives...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Infrastructure (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the government's initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland. The Programme for Government – Securing Ireland’s Future, published in January 2025, sets a number of targets which include the completion of the installation of high-speed fibre broadband to 1.1 million people, including homes, farms, and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Staff (18 Feb 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: I can confirm to the Deputy that the gender breakdown of my Department in respect of Principal Officers, Assistant Secretaries and Secretaries General is as set out in the table below. SEC GEN DEP SEC A SEC PO Male 0 1 6 46 Female 1 0 2[1] 26 ...