Results 9,581-9,600 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: One of the benefits, which will only shade a certain percentage of the increase, is the fact that our PSO is becoming negative. A direct credit of €80 or €90 is going back into every bill. As Senator Boylan noted, this means we are heading towards a negative PSO and are actually saving householders money because of the presence of renewables. However, this will not cushion...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Such is the price increase that it will take hold in respect of a range of businesses that previously would not have seen their energy bill as the real determining factor, for example, a business that has a large number of refrigeration or heating facilities. In discussions with the Taoiseach and others yesterday, I used the example of a small shop that might have difficulties because it has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: That is one of the issues our emergency strategy group is looking at with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. We do have to look at that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: What I have seen in south Dublin, and it is a good example, is the waste heat from a data centre being used to heat the local hospital, local university and local council offices. Going back to what I said earlier about the obligation on large energy users to be part of the solution, I believe it is possible for us to develop solutions where we both have economic development and low-carbon,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: It is hard for the CRU or EirGrid to get down to the level of looking into what is in the file. I know, however, that we had a meeting, I think last week, where EirGrid discussed some of these issues and the example of having data centres which could possibly turn on or off in complement of renewable power. For example, over a large wide regional area, we might look to complement the use...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: We will be there looking for support and for decoupling. Whatever decisions we make in regard to the exact mechanisms for doing that must allow us meet our immediate needs in terms of getting energy security for the Irish people, because as I heard EirGrid and the CRU rightly say today, our sole focus must be to deliver the backup generation capacity we need. Fundamentally, however, there...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Senator is right. Her concerns have been heightened this year because of an Italian decision, of which she is fully aware, regarding compensation being provided to a UK operator that bought an interest in that. I do not believe the same circumstances apply in the Irish context. The difficulty in the Energy Charter Treaty, as the Senator knows, is that there is a 20-year period within...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The critical thing is to work with our European colleagues because the strength of 27 in terms of managing the likes of the Energy Charter Treaty gives much greater negotiation power and effective ability to make a change. If we just do it on our own, then we are not going to change the treaty easily, but working with our European colleagues, we can.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: As I have said, the focus here has been on supply issues and the very real issues in respect of generation capacity, our auction system and so on. However, we could not meet here today without recognising that the challenge facing our people, a challenge which is absolutely beyond compare, is the high price of energy. That is separate and unrelated. It is related to the war in Ukraine....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Even in a crisis, you try to do what you said you would. What we have heard here today is important. We will talk to every operator, including the operators of that 500 MW of demand-response capacity, to see if we can manage and be flexible, which is also part of delivering the 15% reduction. Everyone has to be involved in this because those businesses and many others are going to have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: No. That is because they were agreed prior to the summer of 2020.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: They were agreed prior to the summer of 2020. I am not responsible for what went on in previous years but over the years, as a country, we have made it a principle not to change tack or say one thing one day and another thing the next.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: It is important that we do that. In a republic, the same rules need to apply to citizens, people in the most dire circumstances and corporations. We deliver what we say we will deliver. What we need to deliver now is the 2 GW of gas capacity to keep the lights on. That is absolutely essential. We need to work together to do that. We are not there yet. We are in the middle of this; we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The budget will be a key element in a significant suite of further supports in addition to the €2 billion of public money we have already spent in the last year. We need to go further. We will work with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance to try to do that to the best of our ability. We are also helping people by showing them how they can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: With the scale of price increases, the public is rightly going to want good advice and the ability to deliver. That is the key way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: We have to get the 2 GW. What Mr. Foley said is absolutely true. We have a clear approach that will work. We will deliver a lower carbon, lower cost and more secure system. They are the three pillars of energy policy. Critical to that is delivering at least 2 GW of back-up generation capacity. To go back to what I said a short while ago, we have not delivered a single megawatt yet. We...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: We will have to await discussions with the Department of Finance and take into account what is happening in the European Union, which is changing by the day. The arrangements were one of the subjects we discussed yesterday and we will continue to discuss that with the Minister for Finance. We do not have the final details yet.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Everything on this issue is a matter of urgency. It is a matter of weeks rather than months.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I suppose the Senator is referring to where wind power is not available because of curtailment and constraint and is not sold into the market but generated and spilt. Maybe EirGrid will come in, but my understanding is it is a physical constraint. It is not traded because the grid cannot take it. The grid is central and key. As to how EnergyCloud works, I am not familiar with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with Deputy Bruton's sentiments regarding the officials here. People should realise that in managing this issue or crisis but also in having managed the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, public servants across the board have been through a series of crisis management periods. We should not ignore the fact their work in that regard has been incredibly stressful and pressurised, so it is...