Results 6,941-6,960 of 21,588 for speaker:Denis Naughten

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: I will take a few of those questions together. First of all, the work the committee has done in this area has been very good. It has provided me with a very detailed report on-----

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: -----the long-term view of where public sector broadcasting should go. In the next day or two, I am due to receive a report from my officials on that report, and I want to compliment the committee on it. In response to Deputy Eamon Ryan, I note that Deputy Dooley asked me the same question in the House a couple of weeks ago. We need to deal with this urgently. I agree with Deputy Eamon...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: We are talking about two different reports. We received the pre-legislative scrutiny report on foot of its publication earlier this month, on 8 March. There is a process for the passage of legislation. I cannot proceed to the next stage of that until it completes the next stage. It has gone through pre-legislative scrutiny and I have asked my officials to act, and act immediately, on foot...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: Programme C aims to deliver on the key elements of the Government's energy policy with a clear focus on energy efficiency measures across the residential, public and business sectors. Using less energy, and using it more efficiently, is the most cost effective way to combat climate change. The programme provides €10.9 million to cover operational costs of the Sustainable Energy...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: Deputy Lowry asked about the Littleton plant. It is a sad day when one sees any operation in the country closing. It was inevitable and will be inevitable that as we transition away from fossil fuels, we will have more announcements of this kind in the future. The objective is to try to ensure, in so far as is possible, that we are transitioning out of one technology and into employment in...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: Yes. Solar panels are part of the mix. In fact, I visited a school in Leixlip where the kids were showing me the solar panel. They actually had battery storage in the school. The big problem with schools is that they are closed a lot of the time whether at weekends or out of term. As such, one is not getting the same bang for one's buck when investing in a solar panel there. However,...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: I have it here.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: It has gone from 14,000 to 18,000.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: That is renewable electricity, the vast bulk of which is coming from wind farms nationally.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: Sorry, that is in relation to energy efficiency. It is a more efficient use of energy. I do not know why there was a drop and I will have to come back to the Deputy on it. I do not have an answer. However, we expect the outturn for 2017 to be up. I will come back to the Deputy because I honestly do not have an answer to that. Deputy Dooley asked me about electric vehicles and charging...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: To answer the Deputy's last question, we should not be putting fossil fuel systems into homes. The building regulations have been changed and are to change again in 2020.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: It is surprising to see that level of fossil fuel heating systems is going into new houses, unless a lot of it is on gas.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: Yes, but the intention would be to transition away from that. I am aware from personal experience - I would say many of my colleagues here from rural constituencies could verify this - that the vast majority of one-off houses that are being built are without fossil fuels or, at a minimum, with hybrid boilers. Few are done with anything other than that. I suspect quite a considerable...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: We have to look at the figures and we have not done that. As Deputy Eamon Ryan will be aware, when he was Minister we signed up to a 2020 target where we had not done the figures on it.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: When I have figures available to me and an assessment on that, my objective is to try to maximise the amount of renewables. Not even from a climate perspective but an energy security perspective, it makes far more sense to be putting investment in to sustainable long-term solutions that mean that our energy needs are met domestically rather than being imported. As Deputy Eamon Ryan will be...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: As Deputy Ryan knows with regard to the demands and projections relating to electricity, achieving 40% will be no mean feat based on where we are at the moment and some of the challenges that we have. As the Deputy knows, previous Governments took a decision to put all of their eggs in one basket with renewables and onshore wind. We all have plenty of experience of where that has led us to date.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: The purpose of programme F is to promote the protection of our natural environment, the health and well-being of our citizens and the transition to a resource-efficient circular economy in support of ecologically sustainable development, growth and jobs. The environment and waste management programme includes an allocation of €37.4 million towards staff costs, non-pay current as well...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: We have taken a number of initiatives on the sorting of waste. Over the course of the past year we agreed a uniform standard in the use of the green and blue bins. Across the country there is now a standard list of what can be put in a recycling bin. It took a considerable amount of work and we ran an initiative in that regard towards the back end of last year. We also ran through the...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: That is news to me. I know that in my part of the country there are wheelie bins that are the same as the blue and green bins. I am surprised to hear it and will investigate the matter on foot of the Deputy's comments. We need to encourage people in that regard as the primary objective is to try to reduce the amount of material being put into the black bin. We have introduced the revised...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised) (21 Mar 2018)

Denis Naughten: There are outlets for it, but in order for us to access many of the outlets, we need to present the recyclable material in a clean manner. It is important that householders would rinse out containers before they put them in the recycling bin and present cardboard that is clean. The pizza boxes must now go into the brown bin and not the recycling bin. There is a market for paper. We do not...