Results 6,241-6,260 of 21,588 for speaker:Denis Naughten

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Household Waste Collection Price Monitoring Group (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1041 and 1042 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Bituminous Fuel Ban (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The ban on the marketing, sale and distribution of bituminous coal, or ‘the smoky coal ban’ as it is commonly known, was first introduced in Dublin in 1990, and subsequently extended to our major cities. Following a public consultation process, it was further extended in 2012, and now applies in 26 urban areas nationwide. The ban has proved very effective in reducing particulate...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Recycling Data (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The EPA is the competent authority for the collation of national waste statistics and it reports annually on Ireland’s performance against the recycling and recovery targets set out in the EU Packaging and Waste Packaging Directive. However, there is no specific target set for plastic bottles within the Directive and therefore data relating to plastic bottles is compiled in...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Recycling Policy (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: Waste management in Ireland is primarily regulated under the Waste Management Act, 1996.  Section 32 of that Act requires any person who produces waste to ensure that the waste is managed appropriately, including through arranging for the collection of the waste by an authorised operator.  The waste hierarchy is defined in section 21A and establishes a priority order which...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: My department works in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and the local authority regional waste management offices on a range of national waste prevention and minimisation measures. The National Waste Prevention Programme (NWPP) is funded by my department and led by the EPA. The NWPP has been operating since 2004 and delivers a suite of initiatives and supports to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Communications (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: My Department operates a 1890 LoCall option (1890 44 99 00 ), along with its standard telephone access line (01-6782000), which allows members of the public who wish to call my Department’s offices to choose the option most suited to their circumstances. Details of these telephone numbers, together with advice that the rates charged for LoCall numbers may vary among service...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Postal Services Provision (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: It must be stated that the operation of mail centres is an operational matter for An Post and not one in which I, as Minister, have any direct function. Nonetheless, I have been monitoring the situation with mail centres carefully and I have asked An Post to keep me fully informed on this issue.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: On 28 May 2018, the EU Commission published a proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment. This draft legislation proposes new EU-wide rules to target the 10 most prevalent single-use plastic (SUP) products found on Europe's beaches and seas, as well as lost and abandoned fishing...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: I refer to the answer to Questions Nos. 1004, 1007 and 1023  of 12 June 2018. Ireland’s commitments under the second period of the Kyoto Protocol, (2013-2020), will be discharged via the 2009 EU Effort Sharing Decision 406/2009/EC (ESD). The ESD established annual emission limits for the period 2013 to 2020 for each EU Member State. For the year 2020 itself, the target set for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Implementation (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: There are approximately 42,000 premises in Cavan. Approximately 17,000 (40%) fall within the AMBER area of the High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ieand will therefore be served under the State led Intervention. Approximately 20,000 (49%) premises are in a BLUE area and will be served by commercial providers, while approximately 5,000 (11%) are LIGHT...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Projects (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The high level design of the new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) was approved by Government in July 2018 and the scheme will now proceed through the EU State Aid approval process. It is expected that the first renewable electricity auctions will take place under RESS in 2019. The RESS has been designed to deliver Ireland’s contribution towards an EU-wide renewable energy...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: North-South Interconnector (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: In 2017 I commissioned two studies designed to address the main points of the motions passed in Dáil and Seanad Éireann as well as key concerns expressed by the parties opposed to the development of the North South Interconnector as an overhead line. The first is an independent study to examine the technical feasibility and cost of undergrounding the interconnector. The second...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Postal Codes (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: Eircodes are assigned to new property addresses using a valid postal address and verified geo-location. When a new address is created, for example by a new build or a re-development, An Post GeoDirectory maps this new address and issues an updated version of their GeoDirectory database file to Capita Business Support Services Ireland, trading as Eircode, in accordance with their...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: North-South Interconnector (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: In 2017 I commissioned two studies designed to address the main points of the motions passed in Dáil and Seanad Éireann as well as key concerns expressed by the parties opposed to the development of the North South Interconnector as an overhead line. The first is an independent study to examine the technical feasibility and cost of undergrounding the interconnector. The second...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Biofuel Availability (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The REFIT3 support scheme, which is funded by the public service obligation paid by electricity consumers, has supported the development of anaerobic digestion facilities via a high-efficiency combined heat and power tariff. This scheme closed for new applications on 31 December 2015. The Support Scheme for Renewable Heat will provide an operational support for the heat output of...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Administration (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location.  The NBP is being achieved via a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention. My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll out a new high speed...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Infrastructure (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1060 and 1061 together. The routing of gas pipelines or the connection of towns to the gas pipeline network are matters for Gas Networks Ireland, a commercial State-sponsored body under the aegis of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), the statutorily independent energy regulator,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electric Vehicles (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1062 and 1064 together. There are currently charging posts at five locations in County Cavan, including two in Cavan Town. As each charging post consists of two charging points, this gives a total of ten charging points in the county. There are also charging posts at five locations consisting of a total of ten charging points in County Monaghan. In...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Post Office Network (7 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: As Minister, I am responsible for the postal sector including the governance of An Post.  I am acutely conscious of the value placed by communities in both rural and urban areas on services provided by post offices and am committed to ensuring that a sustainable post office network is available to all our citizens for the medium and for the long term. The post office network has been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Impact of Retirement Packages for Postmasters: Discussion (4 Sep 2018)

Denis Naughten: I thank the committee for the opportunity to address it on this issue. I thank postmasters the length and breadth of the country for the dedicated service they have given to rural and urban communities over many years. As members are aware, some postmasters have taken the difficult decision in recent weeks to leave the business. I will return to that issue. Some people have, perhaps...