Results 24,221-24,240 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Energy Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: I thank the officials for their support in the amendments that were agreed to. I hope this is a start of a long legislative career for the Minister, getting ever more progressive as we go.

Energy Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: I will be brief. I am concerned when places on boards are reserved for particular sectors or people. I accept the principle of Deputy Bríd Smith's proposal but if we are not careful we could up with a board that is representative of people from the labour pillar or the business pillar and such people representing their pillars rather than being free-thinking. Every person on the board...

Energy Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: I am glad the Minister raised those issues because we need to have that debate. I fundamentally disagree that the 20% reduction target we set for 2020 was a pig in a poke or an impossible target. It was absolutely achievable to my mind, but it depends on the extent of political ambition. It also depends on whether one sees it as an imposition or an opportunity. I see it as the latter. I...

Energy Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: I move amendment No. 2:In page 24, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 9 of Act of 1999 11. Section 9 of the Act of 1999 is amended in subsection (1) by substituting the following paragraphs for (m) and (n):“(m) to carry out investigations into the functioning of the electricity and gas markets, (n) to decide upon and impose effective and...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: I wish Mr. Divilly the best of luck. Has he been working in his role during the past four months? I presume he has. He was not waiting for this-----

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: That is good because what he is relating to us is informed by that experience, which helps us. I wish the company the best of luck. It is an excellent company and, as Mr. Divilly said, is one that is trusted, which is not an insignificant issue in terms of-----

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: An Post has been trusted over generations. Families worked not only in the core postal business, but also in the shops and outlets. Those postmasters have a very valuable commodity, namely, public trust and recognition in the State. However, as much as he says the environment is challenging, I can think of no other company whose core business is guaranteed to decline by 5% per annum. We...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: Exactly.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: They all do it.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: We must, therefore, prepare not for a 5% drop some year but possibly for a 20% drop sometime in the next five to ten years.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: God help us then. It will be very difficult to manage the company.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: If I understand him correctly, Mr. Divilly is saying that there are two major areas for growth and opportunity. One is the financial services sector, in those offices - that trust, that network, that money - and the transactional capability. The second is parcel delivery-----

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: Am I right in interpreting that they are the two big potential growth areas he identified?

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: Are they connected in a way? An Post's core business is in the network and delivery system, not necessarily in the retail outlets. I cannot remember how many of the retail outlets An Post manages. It is a very small number.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: The development opportunity is, to a certain extent, at the customer end. It is in the retail outlets. In a sense, the retail outlets carry on much of the financial transaction business referred to by Mr. Divilly. Similarly, does he envisage that the retail outlets will have a significant role in the parcel business? Are they part of the distribution system - in that new parcel system -...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: I agree. I considered this when I was the Minister with responsibility for this area. I was very concerned about and interested in it.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: I recall an incident in Ballingeary of a post office being shut down. It has reopened within a Spar, I think. I had a particular interest in this because I know the area very well and was trying to see how we could make it work in a village such as Ballingeary, a small village in west Cork. I think the future must be in that post office, retail shop, financial services centre and parcel...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: Why not?

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: I have two more questions and my first question is on the new system. The distribution system is part of a very complex range of services. The village post office is the centre that provides a range of Government services, financial services, the Internet, parcel and other services, and also shipping stuff in and out in order that small businesses in the community have a good access point...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: An Post: Discussion with Chairperson Designate (20 Jul 2016)

Eamon Ryan: What is An Post's level of communication with the unions in terms of a role for sorting offices?