Results 27,501-27,520 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: If we considered——

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: In the arrangements we had in place where we were still completing certain MANs and where the ones that were finished were available through the interim operations, Magnum Opus managed them.

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: It was appropriate for us to try to get a best possible deal for the State and for the people in order to open them up. That is what we are doing. In March of this year, as I stated in my reply, I hope to be able to sign off on that if we can get a good deal for the State. Part of the job of Government——

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: ——is to work in the taxpayers' interest.

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: This infrastructure will be used effectively because, as I stated in my response, we will see mobile operators and others availing of it. We will not leave it there stranded in the ground.

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: No. It is proper for us to get the market arrangements right for that so that we get a good deal for the State. I would prefer to do that and take the time to get it right rather than get a bad deal quickly.

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: They will not. The reason for this long-term investment is that in the medium term, which is a ten-year horizon, fibre will become increasingly important and we will see a range of services connected to that.

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: The arrangements——

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: One does not negotiate in public. One does not go out and do the business of the State in an open timeframed way.

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: One negotiates to get the best deal. I believe we will get that in terms of management of the MANs II. This infrastructure will provide a vital role among a range of different support measures the State is taking to provide broadband across this country.

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: I am not dillydallying at all. In the past two years broadband numbers have gone from approximately 0.5 million up to 1.25 million.

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: I will quite happily sit on that record.

Telecommunications Services. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: I beg your pardon, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Alternative Energy Projects. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 and 96 together. The Government is giving high priority to supporting the development of Ireland's ocean energy potential. As the Deputies are aware development of this renewable energy source is at the very early stages and will require considerable research to bring it to fruition as a general source of energy. In this regard I launched the multi-annual...

Alternative Energy Projects. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: We have in our country a cluster of new independent Irish companies that have real opportunities to become world leaders in this area. They are working with international utilities and investors that are seriously considering investment in Ireland. We have to get a number of measures right for that. The budget figures are important, but they are not the crucial constraints. What Deputy...

Alternative Energy Projects. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: The budget will not be measured in the €10 billion or €20 billion about which we are talking here. We are talking about a large multiple of that, if any one of these devices becomes commercially viable.

Alternative Energy Projects. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: This is as important for the State, to my mind, as the date when Intel erected a small cabin in Leixlip, because if one of these devices works and takes off, we shall be talking in terms of billions, not tens of millions. The crucial test for us is getting community support behind it because that is what the investors need in terms of confidence about planning and getting our planning system...

Energy Prices. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 and 77 together. Encouraging a competitive energy supply is a key policy objective for the Government. Rising energy costs are a major concern for all sectors of the economy and for consumers. The regulation of ESB customer supply electricity tariffs and BGE gas tariffs is the statutory responsibility of the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, under...

Energy Prices. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: I confirm that what we are talking about, primarily, is the household sector. As I said earlier, unlike householders, since 2006 the large business consumers have operated in an unregulated market. Because of the nature of the contracts they have, these sectors are already seeing a double-digit reduction in prices, arising in particular from lower international gas prices. The immediate...

Energy Prices. (10 Feb 2009)

Eamon Ryan: First I want the regulator, in discussion with all the players, to come forward with options. I will not pre-empt that task it has been set.