Results 4,241-4,260 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Telecommunications Services (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The two questions are connected. I had a considerable battle to get the money to roll out high-speed broadband across the second level schools. The capital cost is being borne by my Department. We are also bearing the current cost in the year of installation and for a year thereafter. I certainly do not have the resources to perform a similar role for the primary schools. Deputy Lawlor...

Energy Prices (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The Irish oil industry is fully privatised, liberalised and deregulated, and there is free entry to the market. There is no price control on petroleum products and it is government policy to encourage price competition and consumer choice. Responsibility for the regulation of the electricity and gas markets is a matter for the Commission for Energy Regulation, which is an independent...

Energy Prices (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: Deputy Durkan is probably correct that one can never rule out speculation in the oil market as a factor. The problem is that, ultimately, we are price takers. Until we find oil off our own coast, which many seem determined we will not, we will import it. The latest figures from data published by EUROSTAT show that Irish electricity and gas prices are performing well by reference to the EU...

Electricity Transmission Network (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The State-owned independent transmission system operator, EirGrid, is building the east-west interconnector between Ireland and Britain. The interconnector, which is on schedule and within budget, will be commissioned this autumn. The interconnector is a strategically vital energy project for the island of Ireland and is financially supported under the European Energy Programme for Recovery....

Electricity Transmission Network (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: As Deputy Clare Daly will be aware, I tested her propositions with EirGrid and I am satisfied the material that I have put on the record of the House is the honest and best assessment available to me. Deputy Daly is correct in one regard, that is, that I met Rush Community Council and as a result of that meeting, I re-tested the claims it makes that EirGrid withheld or misrepresented data on...

Electricity Transmission Network (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: I accept that the concerns of Rush Community Council are genuinely held but I repeat that its propositions have been tested. We have met Rush Community Council directly. I have consulted my chief technical adviser, taken advice from the senior officials in my Department and put these claims to EirGrid which has responsibility in this matter. I have never heard anybody fault or denigrate...

Electricity Transmission Network (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: They are the experts in these areas and have engaged in a categoric refutation of the charges repeated again today.

Energy Review (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The EU-IMF-ECB memorandum of understanding in the programme of financial support for Ireland included the requirement that an independent assessment of the electricity and gas sectors, taking due account of the EU regulatory context for the sectors, be commenced by the end of September 2011. The International Energy Agency, IEA, is completing its periodic in-depth review of Irish energy...

Energy Review (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: As I said to the Deputy, the part of the report given to me was provided in confidence by the International Energy Agency. The particular caveat entered reads: For the internal use of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources only. No external transmission, disclosure, re-publication, reproduction or other use of this publication or any portion thereof may be made...

Hydraulic Fracturing (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: In October last year I requested the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct research and advise me on the environmental implications of hydraulic fracturing as a means of extracting natural gas from underground reserves. The agency is funding preliminary background research into the environmental aspects of shale gas extraction and the regulatory approaches of other countries, with a...

Hydraulic Fracturing (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: We should opt for a broader national policy and I absolutely agree that is the right approach. However, I simply do not have the expert evidence available to me at this stage. A little over one year ago the previous Government issued licences for exploration to three companies, but essentially they were for no more than desktop-style surveying. I await the report of the EPA which I...

Hydraulic Fracturing (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: Yes, I have had discussions with our colleagues in Northern Ireland about this because they seem to be further along the road than we are, and were about to commence fracking in Fermanagh in particular. They too now are pulling back somewhat and waiting until more information is available in this area. No, I have not spoken to the French EPA, but we have spoken to some people politically in...

Semi-State Companies (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The Government has decided that Bord Gáis Éireann's energy business and some of the ESB's non-strategic power generation capacity will be part of the State assets disposal programme. The Government is irrevocably committed to retaining the Bord Gáis transmission and distribution networks as well as the gas interconnectors in State ownership as national strategic infrastructure and...

Semi-State Companies (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: I agree with Deputy Collins that we traced the issue of the pensions previously. We can be proud of the progress made in the two companies concerned on the pension issue because pensions generally have been affected right across the economy, defined benefit pension schemes in particular. The agreements entered into are landmark agreements that might well be replicated elsewhere. That is...

Semi-State Companies (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: I acknowledge that the Deputy has a point that desires being entertained because we must continue to build up our renewable capacity. We cannot have windmills at every crossroads in the country. It is desirable that wind farms ought to be clustered. The availability of land is most apparent in the case of some State companies, Coillte and Bord na Móna in particular, and we must have...

Energy Conservation (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, administers the low income housing retrofit programme, Better Energy: Warmer Homes, on behalf of my Department. As I announced in the context of the budget, the Government has committed significant funding of €76.146 million to the wider better energy programme this year, of which €17.146 million is allocated to its Better Energy: Warmer...

Energy Conservation (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: The outturn figures for last year show that between 5,750 and 5,900 jobs were supported by the scheme. In other words, the 2,000 jobs promised under the jobs initiative materialised. Incidentally, I do not know if I should congratulate the Deputy or commiserate with him. Either way, my intentions are good. Unfortunately, as the Deputy indicates in the question, the allocation to the...

Energy Conservation (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: As to the advice given by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, which administers the scheme, its assessment of the €76.146 million is that it will create or sustain 4,500 jobs. That is the SEAI's advice as of today. Almost all of the budget for 2011 has been spent. The uptake, which was high in 2011, has decreased in the first two months of 2012. I have asked the SEAI to give me...

Offshore Exploration (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: As Deputy Ferris knows, I have consistently welcomed the proposal by Shannon LNG to construct a liquefied natural gas, LNG, terminal near Ballylongford, County Kerry. Such a facility, together with the bringing onshore of Corrib gas would provide important security of gas supply for Ireland. I met the promoters of the project soon after taking office last year and both my Department and the...

Offshore Exploration (7 Mar 2012)

Pat Rabbitte: I share the Deputy's view of the desirability of proceeding with a significant employment project in an area such as Ballylongford. I have, in so far as it is within my power, done everything to indicate why the Government wants to support and progress the project as quickly as it can. However, as I stated previously, we would have had a decision last October from the regulator whose task...