Results 7,841-7,860 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Wind Energy Generation (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: As Ireland's maritime area is seven times the size of its landmass, and our location is at the edge of the Atlantic, I am critically aware that the potential for offshore renewable energy in Ireland is enormous. The offshore wind delivery task force is central to realising this potential and to meeting our targets. The goal of this task force is to accelerate and drive delivery of offshore...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Wind Energy Generation (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: That is an absolute priority, not just for me but my Government colleagues across this House. The Deputy is right to focus on planning constraints being the real obstacle but An Bord Pleanála is now being resourced with the key expertise it needs in that section. A special unit and team of people are being assembled, with the maritime, ecology and marine planning skills that are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Wind Energy Generation (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Last night, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, introduced legislation to allow us to do the real, essential development of An Bord Pleanála and to bring in new board members and so on. If I recall correctly, Sinn Féin voted against the legislation.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Wind Energy Generation (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Sinn Féin abstained on it.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Wind Energy Generation (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Sinn Féin did not vote against it. Fair enough. That legislation was critical and key. The Deputy is right in that I do not have the full detail on how many new people An Bord Pleanála has taken on. My view is we will have to massively increase the staffing of An Bord Pleanála and not just on the marine planning side. In the areas of transport, energy and housing, I see An...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Data Centres (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Government's decision on sectoral emissions ceilings means we must reduce electricity emissions to approximately 3 million tonnes per annum by 2030 for the electricity sector, which is the steepest decline of all sectors in the economy. The targets are particularly challenging because of increasing electricity demand, including demand from data centres, and the electrification of heat...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan 2021, which was published in November 2021, set out a detailed roadmap for meeting our climate ambition under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 and included indicative ranges of emission reductions for each sector of the economy. The update for this year will follow on from the ambition set out in that and will reflect a strengthened...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Those 10,500 ha of rewetted bogs are real, big and significant. Those 27,000 houses may not all be up to B2 standard but we knew that going into the year. That is what we set ourselves as a target, and we delivered it.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Those 700 MW of power are real. The Deputy is correct in that no one should be in any way complacent or have a false optimism, because the challenge and scale of the changes is so large and they will not be easy to deliver. We do not give up. Resilience is part of what we need in this whole climate approach. There are three real restrictions which are holding us back. One is in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: If we take solar energy as just one example, we will be setting a target, as I set out in my convention speech two weeks ago, for something like 5 GW of solar-generated energy by 2025. That is as much renewable energy as we have ever developed in the past 20 years just in solar energy in the next three years, and this gives the scale of change. What makes me think we can actually do...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I believe they are on board and he is on board, and I believe Irish farmers want to play their part. As evidence, the new agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, the new mechanism to try to improve the environmental performance of farming, is massively oversubscribed. If we look at farm visits at the moment in the organic sector, there are huge numbers coming in because they realise...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Policy (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I referred to the energy security review in an earlier response, so I might immediately respond to the Deputy’s questions in his verbal presentation. With regard to backup generation, which is critical, we have all been watching this in the past week, when our wind power was very low because of the high pressure across north-west Europe. With the very cold conditions, there has been...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Policy (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: It is complicated because these are complicated issues and the timelines are tight. I would be interested to hear the Sinn Féin view on storage. I do not know if Sinn Féin was one of the 400 consultees in terms of which type to use. There are a variety of options. There is the option, which is coming back into view, of looking at the Kinsale gasfield, which had been used as a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Policy (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The decision on that index-linking issue relates to the T-3 and T-4 auctions, which will not come next year, and it is in 2024 and 2025 when that generation was always expected to come. The generation that is due next year is the emergency procurement and emergency purchasing, which is done to close the gap from the failure of the auction back in 2019 to deliver a similar quantity of about...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: We are heading the wrong direction but we are turning this ship and State around. I am absolutely convinced that we can do it. We will be good at it. It is challenging. The statistics I read this morning indicate that our economy has expected growth of 8% this year. That is not an excuse but a reality. We have a massive increase in population. Our targets are not set on a per...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: We cannot predict forward to 2025 yet.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: There are challenges. I use the word "can". It is not certain. It will require incredible change, a scale of change that nobody really understands yet in the political system. Work being done here is on the basis of real, detailed modelling of what is actually happening in our country and what would happen if we took certain steps. If we look at that SEAI press release and what it says...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The review of the security of energy supply of Ireland's electricity and natural gas systems is focused on the period to 2030, but in the context of ensuring a sustainable transition up to 2050. The review is considering the risks to both natural gas and electricity supplies and a range of measures required to address these risks. This includes the need for additional capacity of indigenous...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I saw the reports in The Business Postbut I have not read the full briefing documents. The issue of methane is somewhat separate to the energy security issue. It relates primarily to our climate targets and the need to reduce those short-lived greenhouse gases. We are committed within the European Union, in the wider global context, to deliver on that 30% methane reduction. I attended a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (15 Dec 2022)

Eamon Ryan: With the forbearance of the Acting Chairman, I, like other Deputies, pass on my condolences to the family of the soldier who died in Lebanon last night. Our thoughts are with those who were wounded. We wish them a speedy recovery. They do remarkable work and take enormous risks on our behalf and on behalf of the people of the world who are most threatened. I am sure other Deputies would...