Results 4,181-4,200 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Waste Management (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: We need to do that with funding, first and foremost. If we could sit down and agree funding mechanisms for local authorities based on sustainable long-term commitments, that would make very real the people's ambitions for whatever new services we want to see local authorities delivering.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Conservation (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I accept there are sound arguments about the benefits of the scheme. One way to speed up the process is to employ additional contractors. We are up to 36 contractors now. I have also been informed the SEAI has allocated additional staff to the warmer homes scheme, knowing the funding will increase year on year. There has been a major increase this year and there will be a further increase...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Waste Management (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Local authorities are responsible for municipal waste collection and waste management planning within their functional areas. It is open to any local authority to re-enter the waste collection market as direct service providers if it so chooses, either alongside existing permitted service providers or subject to making arrangements to replace those providers. Under section 60(3) of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Waste Management (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The Deputy is right. In government, we can pass legislation, as could this House. This House, in the end, is the final arbiter. We have to have the numbers in the House. That is our democratic system. We have a waste action plan containing some 200 actions, and I see that as a central focus of what I and my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, want to deliver. As...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Waste Management (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: One of the things I am most proud of was to be a councillor on Dublin City Council for six years, from 1997 to 2002. In those years, as I remember, there were very lengthy debates about waste management, bin collection and bin services. Councillors sometimes have a hard decision because the gallery is right behind them rather than at a distance. I remember at the time taking a difficult...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Deputy about the resourcing of local authorities and the need to increase across a whole range of different areas. We have been doing this in the area of climate. We established the four climate action regional offices, CAROs. There may be smaller counties where there might be a total staff in the county of about 300, 400 or 500. That is difficult. Having regional...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I accept Deputy Connolly's point on central government needing to show greater speed. I also accept the need for resources within our local authorities and we have to continue to review that. I will put one other point back to the Deputy. It is not just about the officials; it is also about the councillors because they are the elected representatives. They are the heart and the leaders...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Conservation (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The better energy warmer homes scheme delivers a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to households vulnerable to energy poverty. This year's budget of €148.5 million is the highest ever. Increased awareness of the multiple benefits of retrofit and improvements to the warmer home schemes is driving increased levels of demand for the scheme, with more than 20,000...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Conservation (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I absolutely accept the frustration about the long lead times and particularly around getting the BER to be able to make an application. We must be careful. We are putting significant funding into this and we have put in an additional €150 million. It is not a small investment, it has been massively ramped up and it will continue to become available. I keep reiterating that one of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I might answer that question first. It relates to an earlier question about grid connections and the crew looking at our connections policy. There is real potential for us to maximise the existing grid where we do have both solar and wind. They tend not to come at the same time. Windy days are typically cloudier, sunny days less so. It makes real sense to integrate wind and solar, as the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 strengthens the role of local authorities for effective climate action. It sets out a statutory requirement for each local authority to prepare a local authority climate action plan. The local authority climate action plans must be consistent with the most recently approved national climate plan and include both...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The key parameter is the strategic outcome and the security. We want to have a vessel that is there and know it is not being used just to sell gas on. It will be there to provide a continuous level of security and will be operated in a way that gives us that. In terms of ownership, we need to get the lowest price for the Irish consumer. Without being definitive, maybe we could get a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: It absolutely has to be for the future of GNI. It has to see this transition as its own. I spoke at a recent conference and made a comparison, which I think is a useful one. Looking at Bord na Móna, four years ago it found itself in really challenging circumstances. It was legally required to stop the production of peat. It has turned matters around and is probably the most...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: To capitalise on the considerable resource potential of our marine area, Government has adopted a phased approach to offshore renewable energy development in Ireland, with the overarching objective of achieving 5 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030 and a net-zero economy by 2050. Phase one is intended to deliver the maximum competitively procured offshore wind capacity at the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I do not have the exact detail on the timeline, but I expect it in the coming months. Very shortly, we will set out the designated area and that will be followed by a further auction next year and the year after. Next year will be the next auction. It is to design them on a rolling, regular basis so that it gives certainty to industry and that we meet the 5 GW targets. What I should have...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: There will be a document published in the very near future from CRU-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The changes on the auction system was from my own personal assessment that it needed a much more guaranteed stable certain pricing regime, particularly for community.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Negotiations (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: COP28, the annual UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, will take place in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December. Mitigation of and adaptation to the impacts of climate change, climate finance for adaptation and mitigation and loss and damage will be priorities for Ireland during the conference. While public finance remains key, other more innovative sources of finance must also be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Negotiations (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I expect it to be approved, and I very much welcome it. Politics always involves compromise, but it is a significant advance which Ireland was very centrally involved in last year at Sharm el-Sheikh in the context of agreeing the principle of a fund and then being on the transitional committee to deliver it. The World Bank is an appropriate vehicle - I said as much at the United Nations...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Negotiations (16 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I very much appreciated going to that event hosted by Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. It was useful. There is real urgency. The reason we support the World Bank is because we need to be quick. The former US Vice-President, Al Gore, stated in a good presentation earlier on the summer that there is a €1 billion climate impact event happening every 18 days. It is happening now. It is here...