Results 3,421-3,440 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I wish to correct what the Deputy said. It is untrue. It will not be used to provide backup when the wind is not blowing. He is right that there is not an example, as Not Here Not Anywhere has said, because all the other energy terminals built in Europe were built to increase supply and that is not the case here. It is exceptional. We are different. We do not offer oil and gas licences....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Production (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: With approximately 4.8 GW of onshore wind, Ireland is a world leader in levels of installed wind energy capacity per capita as well as in the integration of variable renewable electricity onto the grid. According to provisional figures published by SEAI for the electricity generation mix for 2023, renewable generation, including wind, increased by over 9% compared with 2022 figures. Rapidly...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: It is a complicated issue. If the conclusion of my last comments reflected that, that is the reality. I have spent a fair bit of time in discussions. I attended in New York last September a special meeting hosted by, I think, Tuvalu and Vanuatu - small island states. The meeting was mainly attended by small island states, including Ireland, and we spent a lot of time discussing how we...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I know, but others have. This is complicated because there is a real issue. We have more than enough oil, gas and coal to burn this planet, in particular oil and gas. We have to stop exploring for new oil and gas. I was arguing that, not just within COP28, and it was not greenwashing. Yes, it did not go as far as I would like to see, but there was significant progress in tripling...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I am happy to help shape it. Deputy Murphy is absolutely right that the world is in a perilous position when it comes to climate. Stefan Rahmstorf spoke the other day about the interconnected nature of the various tipping points we risk going over if we do not adhere to the Paris climate agreement. Even that is a probability risk we set. We know now it is not a political wishlist. It is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: That has to stop. That has to end. Included in that, going back to the financing issue, and again citing the IEA, because I am particularly involved with it at the moment, we know that by the end of this decade half of the money currently going into fossil fuels has to divest from fossil and go into clean. Those industries have to change. In a similar way, of the $4.5 trillion per annum...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Government approved and published the Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 report late last year. Its supporting annexes and work programmes of 28 actions are included. The comprehensive report concludes that Ireland’s future energy will be secure by moving from a fossil fuel-based energy system to an electricity-led system, maximising our renewable energy potential, flexibility and,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Since the Government came to office, expenditure on this has increased from €40 million to €210 million. Members should be honest. Is that not a significant and incredible increase? The great thing we know is that thanks to the carbon tax, which Deputy Paul Murphy opposes, it will increase by the same amount next year. It is predictable, so you can get the workers and reduce...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I am not.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Again, I take the point. I have not included social housing and the Deputy is right; we need to do that as well. I am going from memory as I do not have the figures in front of me but spending before the lifetime of this Government was about €10 million and has increased to about €90 million last year. A 900% increase in spending is not small. What is an increase from...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Our reliance on fossil fuels is incompatible with the Paris Agreement and a low-carbon future. Ireland supports measures that reinforce and advance our transition away from reliance on fossil fuels and while we have not signed the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, we continue to follow its progress and development. We are acting domestically and internationally to tackle our reliance...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Usage (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Government's energy security package, published in November 2023, contains a wide range of measures to strengthen Ireland’s energy security in the long term, including through reduced and responsive energy demand, a commitment to delivering on a renewables-led energy system, enhancing resilience across energy supply and enhancing oversight and governance mechanisms in the energy...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Usage (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: It is essential we do both. The most recent statement about what happened last year shows the benefit of that approach. As I said, we are slightly better positioned than we were last year because our demand has not grown by as much as EirGrid had expected because of efficiency measures applied in a variety of ways. We focus first on energy efficiency in everything we do. That is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Usage (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I do not see electricity demand doubling in the next few years. We cannot afford for that to happen either on a security of supply basis or on an emissions reduction basis. That is not going to be tolerated. We have a large number of data centres on our system. They account for a large percentage of demand. They bring enormous benefits to the economy, which we should not ignore....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: As the Deputy said, the climate action plan set ambitious targets to retrofit the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a building energy rating of B2 on a cost-optimal basis and the installation of 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes to replace older and less efficient heating systems by the end of this decade. The national retrofit plan sets out the Government's approach to delivering on...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Environmental Schemes (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: What I am getting is a lot of people in other European countries and the UK looking at what is happening in Ireland and saying it is a model they need to follow. As I said to Deputy O'Rourke earlier, we are seeing unprecedented levels of retrofitting taking place. It is way ahead of target.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Environmental Schemes (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: We are significantly ahead of B2 targets. It is not just about retrofitting; the Deputy is right to focus on microgeneration where there has also been a phenomenal increase, both domestic and non-domestic, in the uptake of the grants. We are providing very significant grants to encourage people to avail of solar PV. Yes, we will go further on that and a range of different measures because...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Environmental Schemes (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: In terms of meeting targets under our retrofitting programme and improving the heating and insulation of homes-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Environmental Schemes (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Yes, but the wider picture is that we massively exceeded our target last year, with 47,000 houses done and another 37,000 planned.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Environmental Schemes (25 Jan 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Heat pumps have been fitted in more than 3,700 homes, which was a 66% increase on the previous year. Yes, we need to go further and faster, and we will do that. In particular, we need to improve a lot of the online and other bureaucratic systems around heat pump supports, which are not as flexible and as fast as I would like to see, in order to deliver the scale and number of heat pump...