Results 761-780 of 5,760 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte in 'Written Answers'

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Expenditure (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I assume that the Deputy is seeking information on courses of third level study, funded by my Department and pursued by staff outside of working hours. Each year my Department invites staff to make an application for funding within the terms of the Refund of Fees Programme (Post-Entry Education) under Department of Finance Circular 23/07. Applications are considered for approval where the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: National Gas Grid (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I welcomed the decision made by EirGrid last week to extend the deadline for the consultation process on the GridLink project to 7 January 2014. Any steps to be taken after 7 January, including any analysis of issues such as costs, environmental impacts and technical efficacy, will be considered then. The period between now and 7 January will, no doubt, be useful in providing EirGrid with an...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Appointments to State Boards (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: This Government has made changes in relation to appointments to State boards and bodies with new arrangements involving advertisement of vacancies for applications from suitably qualified candidates and, in accordance with the Government Decision of 12 April 2011, Expressions of Interest have been invited from persons wishing to be considered for appointment to vacancies on State boards under...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Bodies Board Remuneration (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Details of the expenses paid to members of the Board of EirGrid are a matter for the company and the Board. The Directors' Remuneration is published each year in the company's Annual Report which is available on the company's website:www.EirGrid.com.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Provision (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Ireland’s telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The market has since developed into a well-regulated market, supporting a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. Details of broadband services available in each County can be found on...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Electricity Transmission Network (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Development of the high voltage electricity grid as planned in the EirGrid Grid25 strategy is critical to Ireland's economic and social development. Ensuring secure reliable and safe supplies of electricity is critical to Ireland’s ability to attract inward investment and retain and create jobs.All projects in the Grid25 programme are undertaken in accordance with EirGrid’s...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Metropolitan Area Networks Programme (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: A table of the Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and their respective locations, the year of completion and year lit for each MAN is attached.The MANs Programme, which was eligible for co-funding of 40-50% under the European Regional Development Fund, has cost in the region of €176 million to date. Phase I of the MANs programme delivered optical fibre networks to twenty eight towns...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Bord Gáis Privatisation (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: A total of four officials from my Department were involved in the Working Group and Steering Group overseeing the sale process for the Bord Gais Energy business. No additional resources, either internal or external were retained by the Department for the purpose of the process and officials undertook this work as part of their normal duties. My Department did not directly engage or incur any...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Inland Fisheries Ireland Issues (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Ireland manages salmon stocks generally on an individual river basis. Each river contains a genetically unique stock, which migrates to sea as juveniles and returns to the same river in adulthood to spawn. The conservation imperative means that exploitation of salmon of each river is only permitted where the independent Standing Scientific Committee (SSC) for salmon determine that the stock...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Media Mergers (3 Dec 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: As the Deputy will be aware, at present my primary function with regard to media is directly related to my remit in the broadcasting sector. The responsibility for control of mergers and acquisitions, including those relating to the media in the State, lies with my colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation as provided for in the Competition Act 2002. The Government decided...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Wind Energy Generation (27 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: In January of this year the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Mr. Edward Davey MP, and I signed a Memorandum of Understanding on energy cooperation. That Memorandum sent a strong signal of our shared interest in developing the opportunity to export green electricity from Ireland to Britain and will result in completion of consideration of how Irish renewable...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Wind Energy Generation (27 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Ireland has the capability to achieve its national targets for renewable electricity from onshore renewable generation alone, with capacity to spare. This means that, under the co-operation mechanisms outlined in Directive 2009/28/EC, there is potential for projects of scale both onshore and offshore that are aimed at export markets. It is in this context that the United Kingdom Secretary of...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadcasting Sector Regulation (27 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I propose to take Questions Nos. 132 and 133 together. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) is the statutory independent body responsible for regulation of the broadcasting sector, which includes oversight of compliance in relation to broadcast content. The monitoring and enforcement of compliance by broadcasters with the various codes and standards established by the Authority is a...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Expenditure (27 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: My Department administers a very diverse and complex brief. Its remit includes oversight of very complex policy areas and direct procurement of major services where protection of the State’s interest must be paramount. This situation necessarily requires my Department to procure specialist external professional advice in legal areas to enable it to discharge its responsibility to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Bioenergy Strategy Implementation (26 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I propose to take Questions Nos. 432, 433 and 442 to 444, inclusive, together. Academic and industry research suggest that there is a potentially significant role for biogas and biomethane in meeting our renewable energy requirements, particularly in the challenging heat and transport sectors. Biogas can be utilised to generate electricity, heat or as a transport fuel. Electricity...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Banking (26 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: My Department does not provide services to the public where payment is accepted by debit or credit card. However, the Geological Service of Ireland, a Division in my Department, operates a bookshop which accepts payment by debit and credit cards but does not charge fees to customers who avail of this facility. I will ask the agencies under the aegis of my Department to supply the requested...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Provision (26 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: Ireland’s telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The market has since developed into a well-regulated market, supporting a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. Details of broadband services available in each County, including Counties...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Electricity Generation (26 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: There are a number of supports currently available for developing or upgrading micro-hydroelectric schemes in Ireland.The primary support mechanism for the support of renewables, including hydropower, is the Renewable Energy Feed-In-Tariff (REFIT) schemes. These schemes were introduced to incentivise the development of renewable electricity generation capacity necessary to allow Ireland to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: National Broadband Plan Implementation (26 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: The broadband service contracted under National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is a basic, affordable, scalable product in keeping with EU State Aid clearance for the Scheme in September 2007. Under the terms of the contract which my Department has in place with Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd (trading as “3”), the NBS mobile wireless service currently offers minimum download and upload speeds...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadcasting Service Provision (26 Nov 2013)

Pat Rabbitte: I propose to take Questions Nos. 438 and 439 together. One of the objectives of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), as provided under the Broadcasting Act 2009, is to stimulate the provision of high quality, diverse and innovative programming by commercial, community and public service broadcasters and independent producers. In line with this objective, the BAI is assigned...