Results 7,141-7,160 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: They constitute a separate issue. We need it primarily because, as I stated earlier, we must switch off Moneypoint and Tarbert. Tarbert is going to be switched off anyway because it is coming to the end of its life. In those weeks when the wind is not blowing it is not just because of the data centres; there you are into your overall demand-balancing capabilities. The gas generation that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Yes. We cannot deny the science on this. The facts are that we have very high emissions per capita. If we look at the reasons behind that, we have a very large agricultural sector, we have a very dispersed transport system from a model of planning and housing that has embedded over the last 60 or 70 years, and we also have a very high dependence on fossil fuels. You cannot deny the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The Senator is right that there is a real challenge and no-one should underestimate the fact those emissions increased in 2021. We do not know the figures for last year yet but my expectation is they will not be significantly different. That makes it all the more challenging in the remaining years to 2025. Within the annexe functions, each Minister with responsibility will have key...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Okay, then I will move on and maybe come back to it later. Another example is on the heating side. It relates to district heating in Dublin. We need to take the massive amount of waste heat coming out of the incinerator and being pumped into the River Liffey and use it to heat offices and homes in Dublin by 2025. That is a not insignificant volume of heat that could help to reduce...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Earlier I spoke of those key performance indicators that will be set out in the annexe of actions. They are framed and shaped on what is the actual emissions abatement potential. That is to answer that first question. That is how this whole structure is done. It is about how many tonnes of carbon can be reduced. With regard to the data centres, on entering Government we realised there was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: First we have to deliver that €225 million and we will do so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: We will deliver it on track. If one talks to the NGOs, which the Senator does, the NGOs and others recognise that sometimes one cannot completely wrap up immediately-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: -----and that it is ill spent if one does so. But we will meet that target-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: We will meet that target by 2025.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The Senator may not agree with it, but that is my view. Going back the Senator's first point, which is a good one, about the large-scale emissions from land use and what could we do quickly. I put it to the Senator that one of the more immediate issues is that there are still some 500,000 tonnes of peat exported annually with no planning permission, no regulation and no oversight. If we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Going around to every council in the country, the first question I ask is "How many social houses have we retrofitted this year and could we do more next year?" I wish to make a point about land use, because it is very important. I believe the land use review s the most important of all the elements in the climate action plan. It is a highly complex optimisation. We must optimise for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I am very familiar with west Cork. I am also familiar with my own constituency. We will probably have a bigger challenge in Dublin Bay South than in west Cork because in truth, for the terraced houses in Donnybrook, Ringsend or Harold's Cross, there will be a much bigger challenge because there are no driveways. For the apartments and so on it is a bigger challenge, whereas in rural...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: True.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I agree, but I will make the point that there is a real advantage in rural Ireland for rolling out EVs. I do not disagree. We will need an improved Connecting Ireland bus service as well as a range of other provisions, but we want as much home charging as possible because it will bring real advantages. First, it will be a lot cheaper for the person, particularly if we can get our system...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I can and will do that. As I said, I have visited Cork County Council and I gave that message to them. In the end, we cannot run the active travel programme completely centrally because there is local knowledge of where the routes are, where the demand is and where the safe routes to school need to go, etc. It has to come from both management and councillors. The funding is there, but it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I know the technology that Deputy O'Sullivan speaks of. It is small. The problem is that with small things, people say "ah sure it is only a small part, it is part of the hotel's costs." What is the gas for cooking? It is probably only a fraction of a percent. Do you spend your time on all the hassle or is it easier to keep the current system? However, that sort of innovation with many...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: As it happens I spoke to someone yesterday about our grid in Dublin. I will be somewhat local about this, if I can. He made the point that our transmission grid in Dublin dates back to the 1950s and 1960s. It was all out of Poolbeg. It radiated out of the old Poolbeg, not even the big chimneys but the old Poolbeg powerplant, and it would radial out. The people who built it then had a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: There are very advanced plans. Much of it will be commercial development, some of the opportunity may be for deployment of wind turbines in other waters in the UK or France so it is not just a commercial opportunity for what we do in Irish waters. There will be good commercial revenue from that. The exact financing mechanism to deliver it, be it a combination of State or private funding, is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: No, we are not. Some of the ports are private ports or private lands within the ports. They too have a real potential role and they have to manage and assess the commercial operation or commercial business. We want to allow for innovation within ports as to where is the best place for this to take place. The Chairman was at the launch of a major study by Bechtel, an international energy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I will broadly outline the approach. We have phases 1, 2 and 3. Phase 1 has already started. It is seven relevant projects that have been in planning for the last ten or 15 years, with one on the west coast and six on the east. They are all in the auction process at the moment and we expect there will be competitive bidding to get the best price for the Irish public. They are sites that...