Results 6,181-6,200 of 21,588 for speaker:Denis Naughten

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: I propose to take Questions Nos. 62 and 88 together. The Government recently published the Programme for a Partnership Government Annual Report 2018 which provides a comprehensive update on progress since May 2017. The annual report is available on the website of the Department of the Taoiseach. In relation to the Programme's commitments on climate change, the annual report records the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Television Licence Fee Collection (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: I propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 71 together. The current level of TV licence evasion is estimated to be 14.1%. While the rate has fallen from 15.3% at the end of 2013, it is still very high and equates to a loss of €40m per annum to public service broadcasting. To address this issue, my Department has been working with An Post and RTÉ on an on-going...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Implementation (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: In April 2017 I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan. There are approximately 91,000 premises in Kildare. Approximately 13,500 (15%) fall...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Post Office Closures (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: As Minister, I am responsible for the postal sector including the governance of An Post which is a commercial State company with a mandate to deliver a postal delivery service and a viable post office network. I am acutely conscious of the value placed by communities in both rural and urban areas on services provided by post offices and I am fully committed to ensuring that a...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The latest projections of greenhouse gas emissions, published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May 2018, indicate that emissions from those sectors of the economy covered by the 2009 Effort Sharing Decision 406/2009/EC (ESD) could be between 0% and 1% below 2005 levels by 2020. While this is deeply disappointing, it is not surprising given the recent pace of economic...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Post Office Closures (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: As Minister, I am responsible for the postal sector including the governance of An Post which is a commercial State company with a mandate to deliver a postal delivery service and a viable post office network. I am acutely conscious of the value placed by communities in both rural and urban areas on services provided by post offices and I am fully committed to ensuring that a...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Mobile Telephony Services (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: I specifically included in the Programme for Government a commitment to a Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce. The Taskforce worked with key stakeholders to produce a report in December 2016, available on my Department’s website, which contained 40 actions to alleviate some of the deficits. The Implementation Group I co-chair with Minister Kyne is overseeing...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Social Media Regulation (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The Law Reform Commission Report on Harmful Communications and Digital Safety, published in 2016 recommended, inter alia, the establishment of an Office of the Digital Safety Commissioner of Ireland.   As the Deputy is aware, in February the Government did not oppose the passage at second stage of a Private Members Bill by Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire which seeks to establish...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Disposal Charges (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: I established a Household Waste Collection Price Monitoring Group (PMG) last year to monitor pricing developments for household waste collection services during the phasing out of flat rate fees. The PMG has met each month since September 2017 and has considered eleven months of pricing data trends. The PMG has indicated that, in the vast majority of cases, prices have remained...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Litter Pollution (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The primary role of my Department in relation to litter is to provide a robust legislative framework. The key legislation in this regard is the Litter Pollution Act 1997 to 2009. Under the Act, the primary management and enforcement responsibility rests with the Local Authorities.   As Minister, I recognise the challenges presented by littering and I believe that a multi-facetted...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The Environmental Protection Agency produces greenhouse gas emissions projections on an annual basis for all key sectors of the economy in collaboration with relevant State and other bodies. The latest projections from the EPA (published in May 2018) provide an updated assessment of Ireland’s total projected greenhouse gas emissions out to 2030.   The EPA produced two...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Post Office Network (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: As Minister, I am responsible for the postal sector including the governance of An Post which is a commercial State company with a mandate to deliver a postal delivery service and a viable post office network. I am acutely conscious of the value placed by communities in both rural and urban areas on services provided by post offices and I am fully committed to ensuring that a...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Administration (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The National Broadband Plan is an initiative to provide high speed broadband to every premises in Ireland and will be delivered through both commercial investment, and where there is no commercial solution, services will be provided by State led intervention as part of the NBP. In April 2017, I signed a Commitment Agreement with eir in relation to its plans to provide High speed broadband to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management Data (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The most recent published figures for the number of households availing of a food waste collection service are set out in the report Performance Indicators in Local Authorities 2016 which indicates that approximately 640,000 or 38% of households are availing of such a service.  A copy of the report is available on the National Oversight and Audit Commission...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Mitigation Plan (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: Meeting Ireland's EU targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and 2030 will be extremely challenging. The latest projections of greenhouse gas emissions, published by the EPA in May, indicate that emissions from those sectors of the economy covered by Ireland's 2020 targets could be between 0% and 1% below 2005 levels by 2020 in the context of a target that emissions should be...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electricity Generation (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: As set out in the National Development Plan, the Government intends that, by 2030, peat and coal will no longer have a role in electricity generation in Ireland. This is in line with Ireland’s commitments under the Paris Agreement and the National Policy Position which sets out a long-term vision of an aggregate reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of at least 80% (compared to 1990...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Online Safety (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The Action Plan for Online Safety was launched by the Taoiseach on 11 July and contains 25 actions to be implemented by the six sponsor Departments over the next 12-18 months. These Departments are Children and Youth Affairs; Education and Skills; Business, Enterprise and Innovation; Justice and Equality; Health; and my own Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. ...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadcasting Sector Regulation (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: On 10 September 2018 I received an email from a member of the Oireachtas, which contained the anonymous contents of a message that the member had received which contained allegations regarding RTÉ during and subsequent to the 2011 Presidential Election. In this email, the member indicated that they would be contacting the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: Ireland is currently one of the top performing countries in the EU in terms of recycling and recovery. In relation to recycling plastic packaging, Ireland is well ahead of its target set in European legislation, as reported in the EPA Progress Report Towards EU Targets 2017, as a result of programmes and initiatives taken to date. On 28 May 2018, the EU Commission published a proposal...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Action Plan for Rural Development Implementation (18 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The Draft Bioenergy Plan established the policy context for the development of Ireland’s bioenergy sector and set out actions to be undertaken to further the demand for and supply of bioenergy in Ireland. Significant progress has been made in the implementation of these actions including: - the approval by Government of the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat, the opening for...