Results 381-400 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: I might give a slightly more detailed answer on cement because it is important to read it into the record of this committee, given that it is one of the major problem areas. There are other areas too, which I know people will want to talk about, but I might just focus for a moment on the cement side. The cement and construction sectors are separate activities but are highly independent....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: The honest answer to that is that there is a lot of focus on it, but it is not the primary role of my Department. It is also under the Minister, Deputy Harris's, Department. However, for example, through our agencies, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, we can and do provide significant grant aid to their client base for upskilling and training. I have just come from the launch of a knowledge...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: They are pretty big questions. Will the roadmaps get us back on track? They need to. That is why it has taken a while to put them together. In truth, we are not where we need to be, as the Deputy will be aware, to be able to meet the targets we set for 2025. The targets for 2030 are another matter. We need to accelerate delivery next year in getting buy-in from businesses of all shapes...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: What I am saying is a bit is happening in this space, but if the Deputy thinks we can go further, we are all ears.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: I am happy to come in with our key officials in the area, if that is helpful. Our Department does not control all the levers in respect of waste, in particular, but we can certainly be helpful from an industry and enterprise point of view.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: I certainly will not be off the hook.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: No, but I can say that the value of data centres is not the people who are employed in them. There is no digital economy without data centres. All sectors of the economy are moving onto digital platforms. If we want to develop a resilient economy in the future that can protect the quality of life we have in Ireland, that can provide the kind of employment and career opportunities that many...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: Let me answer the question because it is important. To measure the benefit of data centres by the number of people who are employed in them completely misses the point. Although I understand the question, the value of data centres is much broader than that in terms of how Ireland remains and continues to be a world leader in a digital economy, and how we regulate and grow that economy. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: I just wanted to give the Deputy our perspective on data centres. We think they are an important part of the twin transition of decarbonisation and green transition. They need to be sustainable. We do not have an open door policy towards data centres at all. As the Deputy knows, very few data centres got the connection they have been looking for in recent years. Some have gotten grid...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: I do not agree with that. It has not been.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: Can I answer that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: I hear the Deputy on that, although I think she is making the assumption that all of these wind farms will be built anyway and instead of them powering houses and other parts of our economy, they are powering data centres. The truth is that many wind projects are being funded by companies that want to decarbonise the powering of their data centres. Many of the renewable projects happening...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: There will be many more than 60 or 70 turbines off the east coast of Ireland over the next few years.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: That is why we have a licensing system and planning system to be able to do that and make sure they are happening in the right place, that they have the appropriate grid connections and so on.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: However, as the Deputy knows, many of the land-based wind projects happening around the country are funded by companies looking to move away from a reliance on carbon-based fuels to renewable energies. That will happen both offshore and onshore. Whether it is off the coast of Wicklow or Cork, we will see that. I do not see that as a bad thing; rather, I see it as an industry building to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: On the last bit first, on reporting requirements, this is happening. At a European level, there is a reporting obligation. We are going to move to a point where, effectively, companies will have to provide their sustainability credentials each year in the same way they have to provide their annual financial returns. We will be starting this process with larger companies and then moving to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: Well-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: I have to say I visit building sites to see whether there is really change happening on those sites, and it is.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: I was on a building site in Cobh recently where houses were being built with a material I had never seen before. It is providing extraordinary improvements in terms of heat and energy management once the homes have been built. I think this is happening now and our job is to accelerate it further and, basically, to make it the norm. If we need to look at new incentives and new grant aid...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Simon Coveney: I am not sure I mentioned carbon abatement at all. Did I?