Results 25,861-25,880 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Digital Terrestrial Television. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I wanted to give a clear signal to the suppliers and all concerned of our determination in terms of switch-off and the move towards whichever alternative system evolves in the coming months.

Gas Storage Facilities. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Security of gas supply is a fundamental priority for the Irish economy given its continued importance for power generation. Given our high level of import dependence over the interconnectors with the UK, gas storage has an important role to play in contributing to enhanced gas security for the island of Ireland. The report on an all-island common approach to gas storage and LNG reinforces...

Gas Storage Facilities. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I share the Deputy's concerns. The statistics he highlights show that we need to increase our commercial storage. The Commission for Energy Regulation has responsibility for managing storage licence conditions and it is the commission, in conjunction with the Department, which will look at the various options. The National Oil Reserves Agency has a connection to this. I recently had a...

Gas Storage Facilities. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Yes. It will have to be within the confines of the European Union regulations in the area where there is a proposal for the regulation and security of gas supply. As I said, it will be done largely with the Department and the CER working with the Commission to ensure we meet the European Union requirements as well as our own needs.

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: The establishment of a one-stop-shop is one of the commitments in the next generation broadband policy paper, Gateway to a Knowledge Ireland, which I published in June last year. The concept of a one-stop-shop arose from a recognition that there is added value to be had from facilitating telecoms operators in gaining access to ducting in State-owned networks thereby ensuring optimal use of...

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I am glad Deputy Coonan mentioned the past three years because any independent analysis of what has happened in the past two and a half to three years since I have been in office is that broadband numbers have gone from 600,000 to 1.4 million or so. That is a fact.

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: That is the reality. However, it is not enough. We need-----

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: -----and want to go further. We need higher speeds. Again, it is a fact that the competition I am pursuing is delivering that. The competition between the cable providers, the fixed line providers, the mobile providers, the WiMAX providers and the satellite providers is the best way to drive down prices and drive up speeds. That has been shown in market after market and it is working...

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: In those rural areas, there is action. There is a €200 million plus scheme to provide in the best way we can to the very rural areas which, as the Deputy said, are most sensitive to this. We have gone further than that. We have gone to Europe where there is European Union funding available for a rural broadband scheme to get to the last 10,000 houses which will be covered by that scheme....

Bio-fuels Market. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 57 and 87 together. The national bio-fuel obligation will require suppliers of road transport fuels to ensure that 4% of their volumes sold on the Irish market is bio-fuel. The legislative basis for the obligation is provided for in the Energy (Biofuels Obligation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which has recently been introduced in the Oireachtas with a...

Bio-fuels Market. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Bio-fuels are not an area in which the market can be left to its own devices as to do so would result in unsustainable fuels being imported from rainforest regions and other unsustainable sources. This is the reason I was active and supportive of the European Union proposal for sustainability criteria to be the first requirement. This means legislation set in Brussels rather than individual...

Bio-fuels Market. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: These are complex technical issues which are, I understand, related. In the systems adopted by the countries to which the Deputy referred, a defining choice must be made about whether one discriminates against unrefined ethanol products versus refined products. I understand that refined ethanol can be transported from Brazil to Europe, whereas unrefined ethanol would not survive such a long...

Bio-fuels Market. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Such a scenario may not meet our common objective of giving Irish farmers a viable market supply. If we were to go down this avenue and we ended up importing these products from Rotterdam or elsewhere, it would not be of any benefit to the Irish agricultural sector. In that case, it would not be the correct course of action.

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I support proposals to conduct an audit of the quality of service experienced by broadband service customers compared to the quality of service advertised by suppliers. Ideally, this study would be conducted in a manner which would also permit international comparisons. In June 2009 the European Commission published an invitation to tender for a contract to conduct a study and prepare a...

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: We are addressing the issue through a range of measures, including investments in 100 megabit connectivity in schools, Project Kelvin, a high speed connection between North America and Ireland, and the exemplar network which creates potential to overcome the slow spot in the Internet, namely, the choke point at switching equipment. We are making a number of investments which provide an...

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: The first thing we have to do is pass the legislation tomorrow. That is the first crucial date and, as I said in my reply, we must proceed with the one-stop-shop this year. While I acknowledge that we have been behind, one of the primary reasons was that we had a series of ownerships in Eircom that took a short-term position, which was not investing in the networks. It seems to me that...

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: As I said to Deputy Coonan earlier, that is why we went to Brussels and got EU state aid approval for a new, additional rural scheme which will require us to provide alternatives for those 12,000 houses. We were dissatisfied with the quality of information on the website and that is why I took it down. Companies were not providing sufficiently up-to-date information. ComReg does provide a...

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: Open access is the concept with the one-stop-shop. That ducting is to provide it on an open access basis. It is up to the regulator to try to pursue and promote open access in other key network infrastructure and that is happening.

Telecommunications Services. (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I gave very clear policy guidance and in the last few weeks the outcome has been - as was raised in the last session of oral questions - that the arrangement saw a drop in line-share costs of approximately 80% to 90%. Further decisions are being made about unbundling the network, which is happening. The reality therefore is that companies are starting to see the wisdom of a more open access...

Written Answers — Telecommunication Services: Telecommunication Services (2 Mar 2010)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 59 and 67 together. The establishment of a "one-stop-shop" is one of the commitments in the Next Generation Broadband policy paper "Gateway to a Knowledge Ireland", which I published in June last year. The concept of a "one-stop-shop" arose from a recognition that there is added value to be had from facilitating telecoms operators in gaining access to ducting...