Results 821-840 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Expenditure (1 Jul 2015)

Alex White: My Department seeks to ensure that spending on education and training represents value for money and expenditure in this area is incurred in accordance with EU Regulations and Department of Finance guidelines. The annual cost of Learning and Development in my Department can vary depending on demand and the requirement for courses. The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Expenditure (1 Jul 2015)

Alex White: My Department administers a very diverse, complex and technical brief. It has a total complement of around 250 full time equivalent staff of whom a limited number are technical personnel. This requires my Department to procure specialist external professional advice notably in legal, financial and technical areas to assist in discharging its functions. In procuring these specialised services,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Expenditure (1 Jul 2015)

Alex White: Special Adviser appointments are undertaken in accordance with the Instructions on Ministerial Appointments for the 31st Dáil (July 2014) and the Guidelines on Staffing of Ministerial Offices (March 2011) issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. In accordance with Section 11(1)(a) of the Public Service Management Act 1997, I appointed two Special Advisers in 2014. The...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Expenditure (1 Jul 2015)

Alex White: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table. The One Person One Salary policy introduced by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform provides that serving public sector employees are not eligible to receive remuneration in relation to their membership of boards of State Bodies. In addition, non-public sector board members may choose to voluntarily waive...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Post Office Network (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: I propose to take Questions Nos. 649, 652, 653, 658 and 667 together. It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong and viable company, in a position to provide a high quality postal service and maintain a nationwide network of customer focused post offices in the community. I established the Post Office Network Business Development Group earlier this year. The terms of reference...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Post Office Network (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: I propose to take Questions Nos. 650 and 651 together. It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong and viable company, in a position to provide a high quality postal service and maintain a nationwide network of customer focused post offices in the community. I established the post office network business development group earlier this year. The terms of reference for the group are...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadcasting Sector Regulation (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: In my role as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, I meet with representatives from media organisations on a regular basis, primarily from the broadcast sector. These meetings cover a variety of topics but I have not met any media organisation specifically to discuss the media merger provisions of the Consumer Protection and Competition Bill and/or the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Resources (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: Ireland has a single refinery at Whitegate, Cork that is owned and operated by Phillips 66. My Department is in regular contact with the company and I have met with Irish and US executives of Phillips 66 as well as with union representatives. I visited the refinery in November 2014. The company most recently marketed the Bantry storage terminal, the refinery and their retail business in...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Harbours and Piers Development (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: There is significant expertise in the Cork harbour area for the maritime and energy sectors including the long established presence of the oil refinery at Whitegate, the National Maritime College of Ireland, the Irish Maritime and Energy Research Cluster (IMERC) at Ringaskiddy and the International Energy Research Centre (IERC) in the Tyndall National Institute in Cork City. Inputs from the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: The information sought by the Deputy is set out in the table. The Deputy should note that this information is based on the map produced by the Department in November 2014 and will be subject to change following assessment of all investment plans by operators. Existing and Planned Commercial High Speed Broadband: this is the number of premises by county that commercial operators indicated...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: The aim of the National Broadband Plan is to ensure that all premises will have access to high speed broadband, whether through commercial investment or a State funded intervention. Last November I published a national high speed coverage map for 2016. The map identifies detailed information on over 50,000 townlands on a county-by-county basis and can be accessed at . The map shows Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Efficiency (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: SI 131 of 2014 established an Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme in line with Article 7 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive. The scheme is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). Under the scheme all energy suppliers with annual sales above 600 gigawatt hours (GWh) are required to deliver energy savings to final consumers equating to 0.75% of their annual energy...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: I propose to take Questions Nos. 661 and 662 together. The Government recognises that access to high quality, high speed broadband is important for businesses and households throughout Ireland. The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Policy (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: The overarching objective of the Government's energy policy is to ensure secure and sustainable supplies of competitively priced energy to all consumers. A well balanced fuel mix that provides reliable energy, minimises costs and protects against supply disruptions and price volatility, is essential to Irish consumers. The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive set Ireland a legally binding...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: National Postcode System Expenditure (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: A contract was signed with Capita Business Support Services Ireland Limited in December 2013 to develop and roll out the National Postcode System over a 10 year period. Total spend to date on that contract is €15.3m. Aside from the contract with Capita, the table below includes all companies involved in the project and their associated costs from 2010 to date in the development of the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: National Postcode System (30 Jun 2015)

Alex White: I refer to the reply to Question No. 268 of 24 June. The position is unchanged.

Order of Business (25 Jun 2015)

Alex White: While I do not yet have a specific date for the introduction of that very important legislation, I assure the Deputy that work is ongoing in that regard.

Order of Business (25 Jun 2015)

Alex White: The road transport Bill is expected to be forthcoming later this year. In respect of the other matter he raised regarding general practitioners in south Tipperary and the contract for children aged under six, the legislation providing for free general practitioner care for children under six years was passed in this House and the other House last July. It is the policy of the Government and...

Order of Business (25 Jun 2015)

Alex White: I hope all general practitioners will see their way to signing a contract in respect of this policy.

Order of Business (25 Jun 2015)

Alex White: With regard to negotiations - perhaps "contact" would be a better description - I can state from experience that the Irish Medical Organisation, the long-standing and respected representative body of general practitioners in this country, was consulted on this scheme.