Results 581-600 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: PCIs are projects of common interest. In terms of the policy objective of realising the completion of the internal energy market, a great deal of it has to do with network codes and such issues, but obviously the physical infrastructure is important. If all of the legal regulatory and other work can be done in respect of concluding the objective of an internal energy market, we then have to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I do not wish to interrupt Deputy Colreavy but we are talking about two different Councils. I am happy to deal with the Deputy's first question. I will take his energy question under the Energy Council, but they are two separate meetings.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: It is, but I understood it was sequential.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: On the telecommunications side, this proposal from the Commission, called the "Connected Continent: Building a Telecoms Single Market", is a package that emerged as recently as September last year. It is phenomenally complex, very comprehensive and, from the point of view of the Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, deserves urgent attention. It is not fair to say there is not an agenda. There is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The heavy lifting on this is being done by the working group. There is a working group of people who have expertise in the area. As Deputy Moynihan said earlier, we cannot all have masters degrees in the high tech aspect of some of these decisions and so forth. That is the reason we retain experts to guide us. The heavy lifting will be done by the working group, but there will be a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Energy Council will be held on 13 June. We have made the agenda available to the committee. It includes completion of the Internal Market in energy, international energy relations and, in particular, the value of multilateral frameworks to promote climate and energy policy goals. To outline the context, the recent informal meeting of energy Ministers which I attended in Athens on 15...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The reason I asked Dr. O'Neill six months ago to chair this group of experts was precisely to give us up to date guidance on that. I am a bit sceptical about our ability to give expression in law to measures in this area and it would have to be very carefully evaluated. If there were simple answers to this, other countries would have produced them by now. There are no simple answers and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The short answer to the first question is that the discussion will be helpful in what we are seeking to do here. We would like to think that many of the measures we highlighted in the broadband task force presaged much of the debate happening now in Europe. We brought together the main players in the industry with Department officials, chaired by me, with the regulator and representatives...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I intend to do so, if the Chairman so wishes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The discussion to which Deputy Moynihan refers will be a lunchtime discussion of the type which almost always occurs following a Council of Ministers meeting and focuses on a particular subject. In this particular instance, the subject is that of Internet governance. In my view, we are a long way from being able to define trans-European law on the issue of Internet governance. We have an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: EU Telecommunications and Energy Councils: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I am glad to appear before the committee. We can leave the defamation to the weekend. I do not think we need to go over that here. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the forthcoming Telecommunications and Energy Councils on 6 and 9 June, respectively. I will begin by dealing with the Telecommunications Council. I understand the committee already has a copy of the draft agenda and I...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Provision (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Government's National Broadband Plan, which I published in August 2012, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses. This will be achieved by providing a policy and regulatory framework that assists in accelerating and incentivising commercial investment, and a State-led intervention for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Semi-State Bodies (28 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: There are 7 Commercial Semi State Companies under the aegis of my Department - An Post, Bord Gáis Éireann, Bord na Móna, Eirgrid, ESB, RTE and TG4. The information sought regarding the current credit rating of all Commercial Semi States operating under the aegis of my Department is an operational matter for each Company. I will request the relevant bodies to reply directly to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Rural Broadband Scheme (27 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I propose to take Questions Nos. 488 and 492 together. The Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published in August 2012, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses. This will be achieved by providing: - a policy and regulatory framework that assists in accelerating and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Post Office Network (27 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Insofar as plans for the development of the post office network are concerned, I refer to the reply to Priority Question No. 111 [19991/14] of 6 May 2014. The position is unchanged. The issue of post office closures is an operational matter for the board and management of An Post and one in which I have no statutory function. I will ask An Post to respond directly to the Deputy in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Internet Safety (27 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Internet Content Governance Advisory Group has held 10 meetings to date and is currently finalising its report which I expect to receive by the end of this month. I intend to bring this report to Cabinet and the Joint Oireachtas Committee in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Postcode Implementation (27 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Data protection issues have been part of the debate on postcodes since the establishment of a National Postcodes Board in 2005 to examine the introduction of postcodes in Ireland. There has been engagement with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner on the issue of postcodes generally at various points since then. I have stated clearly that the necessary protections will operate...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Na Postchóid Nua (27 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Nuair a úsáidfear Eircodes ní bheidh aon athrú i gceist maidir le seoltaí reatha. Tá seoltaí i nGaeilge san áireamh. Ceapadh Eircode le bheith neodrach ó thaobh teanga de. Ar chúiseanna oibríochta áfach, léireofar cód poist reatha Bhaile Átha Cliath mar an chéad trí charachtar sa chód seacht gcarachtar.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Commission for Energy Regulation (27 May 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The regulation of the electricity and gas market is the responsibility of the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), which is an independent statutory body. I have no function in the matter of customer complaint resolution. The CER has a statutory responsibility to provide a complaints resolution service to customers with an unresolved dispute with their supplier or network operator....