Results 241-260 of 3,665 for speaker:Seán Power

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: The proposals that the European Commission has tabled will make possible the spending of €1bn for the provision of broadband access in rural areas under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The proposal requires the approval by the European Council of the European Economic Recovery Plan at the Spring Council meeting to be held on March 19th — 20th. If approved Member...

Written Answers — Fisheries Protection: Fisheries Protection (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: Following scientific research conducted by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), indicating that the European eel stocks are in a critical state, the EU introduced Council Regulation 1100/2007, the objective of which is to achieve recovery of the stocks to previous high levels. The Regulation requires the Irish authorities to prepare a national Eel Management Plan...

Written Answers — Offshore Exploration: Offshore Exploration (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: If a company with a petroleum exploration licence were to make a commercial discovery of oil offshore it would be required to bring forward a detailed plan of development for my approval. Any such plan of development could be based on a mobile production facility or a tieback to a land based facility. The development would be governed by a petroleum lease agreed between the State and the...

Written Answers — Offshore Exploration: Offshore Exploration (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: I propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together. The Corrib gas field is the only oil or gas field offshore Ireland that has been declared as commercially viable but has yet to reach production stage. The developers of the Corrib Gas Project, Shell E&P Ireland Ltd, have stated their expectation that first gas will be available in the last quarter of 2010. Completion of the development...

Electricity Price Regulation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: The Commission for Energy Regulation has statutory responsibility for the regulation of electricity prices under the Electricity Regulation Act. In 2006 the CER ended the regulation of ESB tariffs for large energy users. Some 90% of business has now switched to independent suppliers. The CER has made clear that it intends to exit from the regulation of ESB retail prices when sufficient...

Electricity Price Regulation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: We all agree competition is necessary and that ESB had a monopoly for too long. Both Airtricity and Bord Gáis, however, are recent entrants to the domestic electricity market. Bord Gáis Energy has advised that in excess of 80,000 customers have switched and while that volume of change-over exceeded expectations, the numbers remain small in comparison to the domestic market of 2 million...

Electricity Price Regulation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: The intention was to make it attractive for other companies to enter the market and provide competition. To achieve that we had to provide a guarantee for new entrants. If ESB was allowed to compete on price in the early days of competition in the domestic market, it could seriously undermine the new market entrants. For that reason the new entrants had to be given some certainty about the...

Electricity Price Regulation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: I cannot give a percentage but it will be reviewed as the market develops. At this stage it is not necessary to decide what the figure will be.

Electricity Price Regulation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: Of course it would but it was important to have these measures in place if we were going introduce competition. The regulator admitted in recent consultation papers its intention to withdraw from regulation when sufficient competition develops in the market. Competition is in its infancy and we will have to see how it grows. We are talking about 80,000 customers in a few weeks compared to...

Broadcasting Legislation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: The Broadcasting Bill 2008 proposes the establishment of a single content regulator, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, which will encompass the existing functions of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission and any remaining content regulatory functions of the RTE Authority. In formulating the Bill consideration was given to the question of...

Broadcasting Legislation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: We gave that serious consideration and while a good case might be made for joining the two together, weighing up the pros and cons, it was decided that at this stage we would not amalgamate the two, but have two separate regulators. The forum on broadcasting, which was set up in 2002 and is the genesis for the current Broadcasting Bill, recommended what we are doing. It also recommended...

Broadcasting Legislation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: Looking at the experience of some other countries, Ofcom in the UK and the Australian communications and media authority are unitary organisations. Both have separate internal structures to deal with broadcasting content and telecommunications regulations.

Broadcasting Legislation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: At the same time they are separate and have separate internal structures.

Broadcasting Legislation. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: There can still be a sharing of resources, while making savings and having efficiencies between the two. At the moment we thought it was not the appropriate thing to do, but it is something we will keep under review.

Bio-fuel Industry. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: The bio-fuels mineral oil tax relief schemes resulted in 18 projects being awarded excise relief for the years 2005 to 2010. The schemes were designed as an interim measure to enhance the level of bio-fuels in the fuel mix and to encourage the development of an indigenous bio-fuels industry. The Government's bio-energy action plan, which was published in 2007, made clear that a national...

Bio-fuel Industry. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: Between schemes one and two there are four projects in the bioethanol category.

Bio-fuel Industry. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: I will have to check that, but between both schemes there were four projects.

Bio-fuel Industry. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: I will check and get a more specific answer to the Deputy's question. I must point out, however, that the mineral oil tax relief schemes for bio-fuels were introduced under which 18 projects were awarded excise relief until 2010.

Bio-fuel Industry. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: There was always going to have to be imports. This is an interim measure, not a permanent solution. The US undercutting European and Irish companies made it difficult for the sector. Today, the Commission announced its decision to impose an anti-dumping duty on US biodiesel. While the regulation in question is long and complex, the bottom line is that some importing companies will be hit...

Bio-fuel Industry. (12 Mar 2009)

Seán Power: Plants have been built in Ireland. At European level, we have set a 10% target of renewable energy in transport by 2020. Bio-fuels will make a significant contribution to the achievement of that target. It will be reviewed on an ongoing basis as more evidence comes to light of the effects of bio-fuels on world food markets and as new technologies come on stream. This relief scheme was very...