Results 8,401-8,420 of 26,021 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Mr. Burke may want to speak about transport but I am interested in what has been agreed generally. I need to find out what the situation is now. Ignore these COMs. What is the situation now? I want to feed that back into the climate change Bill that has come in as law and the climate action Bill with the climate budgets. I want to bring it down to the people who we represent, such as the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Mr. Burke, I need to get a handle on where we are at the moment vis-à-visEurope on the current items we have signed up to.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Yes, exactly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Does Mr. Burke not even have the general parameters we have signed up to? We spoke with Mr. Ó Ciaruáin about it. These particular COMs look at achieving a target of 55% reductions from 1990 levels. Is that correct? We are looking, under the climate Act, to achieving a target of 51% by 2030. Is that based on a base year of 2018?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: That is the space really. To put it another way. If we go down through the COMs, COM (2021) 552 and COM (2021) 567 refer to the ETS scheme. They refer to free carbon. As it stands, airlines currently get free carbon emissions, is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: What is the cost of that per annum?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: To all airlines?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is that a tax they pay or how does that work?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: This proposes those allowances will be eliminated by what year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: So that is six years' time. Has the Department engaged with the airline sector? How do Ryanair and Aer Lingus view this?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: What I am more interested in is, there is a lack of detail from the Department, so I cannot make an opinion as a member of the committee as to what implications this will have. We have a very large airline sector. The COM (2021) 561, the ReFuelEU aviation initiative, will take the form of a directly applicable regulation to ensure a level playing field across the EU air transport market....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: In regard to COM (2021) 562, the maritime proposal, Mr. Burke has gone through that. How is it viewed by the ports? How do shipping companies feel about this measure being brought in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Regarding CO2 emissions, we have a climate action plan. Returning to the differentials, this looks at a 55% reduction on 1990 and we are looking at a 51% reduction on 2018. That is enshrined in legislation. That is a competency of ours. At the moment, have we competency over setting how we reach that target? Why do we aim for 51% and this COM has a 55% target? Why is that the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I accept that but why are we looking at a COM which has a 55% target? As a Member of the Dáil I have voted in legislation that provides for 51%. We have a competency over that area. So if we take this COM at this rate we lose control, we would be signing up to a 55% target, is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: The climate action Bill which involved a huge amount of work in all Houses and committees sets the carbon budgets, which I presume are tied in with climate action plans, am I correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: There are major discussions on that at the moment, and the implications for various sectors. We are now discussing a COM which is for the next five years, while the Government has yet to finalise the carbon budget. I am very uncomfortable signing up for COMs ahead of it. Without in any way appearing to interfere or determine rates - although you say they are generally the same - 51% and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: When we hear people talking about the coming climate action plan, that is the five-year budget.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Farmers want to know what is going to happen. On the ground, the people we represent are actively watching what will be in those climate action plans.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: At this time is the percentage of that reduction transport will have to fulfil determined in law?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (21 Oct 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Therefore we are discussing something here in terms of transport about which the actual practical import for the people who we represent is yet to be determined, based on national legislation that we put through with no detail on what this is going to do. Personally speaking I would be very uncomfortable with saying that these do not breach at this moment in time the Irish subsidiarity...