Results 29,641-29,660 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Energy Resources. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: I am quite happy to be measured on reaching those targets not as a limit of our ambitions but as the floor on an annual basis and to be picked up on that if we do not achieve it. I will come back to the ESB at a later stage.

Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: There were 698,000 broadband subscribers in Ireland at end of quarter two of 2007 according to official figures from ComReg. Since then, the 700,000 target has been achieved and I am confident the final figure for the end of 2007 will greatly exceed 700,000. This 698,000 figure is equivalent to 16.48% of the population. At the start of 2005 only 3% of the population were broadband...

Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: Where we are not getting sufficient service I have no problem in deploring that and in encouraging the companies involved. I will have no problem in regulating as much as possible to ensure that the companies involved begin to provide services. In the case of Wicklow if that is the level of exchange that has been enabled, then it is an issue of real concern. The response to that is how we...

Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: I do not know where Deputy Coveney got the 18 months figure. I believe I said earlier that the scheme would be operational by the second quarter of 2008, which would be less than six months away. The group broadband scheme was fully implemented in terms of processing all the applications and providing grants in 2004 and 2005. Based on the experience of that scheme it was decided that the...

Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: Eircom's fixed line network is one of many regulated communications networks in Ireland. The communications landscape has been transformed over the last decade. Where once we had just one publicly owned telecommunications company, we now have close to 400 operators in the communications area. Ireland now has a mix of mobile, wireless, cable and fixed networks all of which are capable of...

Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: Yes, it would be a positive development. We look to the UK example where a similar incumbent provider separated its business and provided its mainline retail network on a wholesale access basis. Going back to the argument the Deputy made earlier, it seems to me that there is an economic or commercial benefit for companies moving in that direction. By raising the overall level of business,...

Telecommunications Services. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: Earlier I spoke about the developing competitive market in terms of not just fixed line telecommunications providers of which there are several. The number of companies in the telecommunications area is very significant in wireless, cable and a range of different technological services. We need to be very careful that we do not just jump into a very quickly evolving and competitive market...

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: I am aware of the need to strike a land balance between energy and food crops. The European Commission has indicated its awareness of general sustainability issues regarding biofuels and has signalled its intention to introduce incentives and support systems to avoid such issues. Specifically, it intends to encourage the development of "second generation" biofuels which can be produced from...

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: I would very much welcome a detailed debate but this may take more than a debate in the House. For example, this could be a subject for a committee because it is highly complex and technical. Second generation biofuels have different implications for generating feed stock, as they are generated from a general organic source rather than a food source. Such issues require much analysis and...

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: I will do whatever I can to ensure Irish farming benefits from biofuel supports rather than distant sources, without infringing world trade rules, which could result in Ireland being pulled up and a stop-start approach for the industry. My colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has a key role in this regard. We must be innovative and, at the same time, careful. The...

Mobile Telephony. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: The regulation of telecommunications operators, including regulatory issues surrounding access by operators to other operators' networks, including infrastructure, is the responsibility of the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, in accordance with the requirements of the Communications Regulation Act 2002 and the regulations which transpose the EU regulatory framework for...

Mobile Telephony. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: I thank Deputy Coveney for his kind words and I look forward to working with him and other Members opposite in my time in this Ministry. I hope it will lead to a beneficial exercise in policy regulation for all the people of this country. The Deputy made the assertion that we do not have shared use but my understanding is that we do. It may well be facilitated further by the sale of the...

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: The objective of the greener homes scheme is to stimulate consumer investment in renewable heating solutions and to develop the market for renewable energy technologies, thereby reducing CO2 emissions in the domestic sector. Over 16,000 grants were approved under phase 1, which ran from April 2006 to August 2007. There is no waiting list. Some 6,600 of these applicants have completed...

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: I thank Deputy McManus. I look forward to working with her and to getting support from all sides of the House in the important work we have to do. I have indicated to the Deputy that we will require a Supplementary Estimate for a transfer budget in my Department because the committees, where such work would normally be carried out, have not yet been established. I understand we may have to...

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: I have said a Supplementary Estimate is being prepared and will be brought before the Dáil next week. It will set out in exact detail how much money will be needed.

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: Yes. We will be accountable——

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: We will——

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: No, I intend to bring a Supplementary Estimate to the Dáil, which is the appropriate forum for this matter to be discussed, next week.

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: I can give the Deputy the rough amount now. There will be additional expenditure of between €15 million and €17 million this year. We will wait until the actual Supplementary Estimate for the exact figures.

Alternative Energy Projects. (11 Oct 2007)

Eamon Ryan: It will come internally from within the Department. I would prefer to wait for the proper occasion — next week's debate on the Supplementary Estimate — before I make a decision on the matter. We could have a debate on the Supplementary Estimate now, but we would not have time for any of the other Priority Questions.