Results 10,461-10,480 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I met one of Shackleton's relatives recently. She is an organic farmer who is doing advanced, interesting science, research and farming, using new, innovative techniques to reduce emissions and create high quality food. That spirit and capability lives on in this country. We need the Department of Foreign Affairs to work with the other Departments, which it has committed to, to untangle a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: In March, we realised there was a problem and we engaged directly with the airport, which also recognised there was a problem. There was a particular problem coming into the Easter period. We engaged with the company, the European Commission and others to try to make sure that the security arrangements in the airport would allow us to get those passengers through. We got passengers...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I do not know how many dozen times I have met it over the past two or three years.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, meets it on a daily basis with my adviser and I come in on a regular basis to check and make sure what we are doing. I engaged with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and others to make sure that the whole of Government was involved. We were active. We were engaged.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Everyone was let down at the weekend and we all accept the responsibility for that, myself included, but-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: We meet on a daily basis about what is happening in the airport on a given day and the resource situation. This morning, there were 13 lanes open in terminal 1 and ten lanes open in terminal 2. In regard to the times, while not in the ordinary manner of the way an airport works, were nothing like the scenes that had been seen previously. We need to check on a daily basis to make sure that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I have been meeting the aviation industry throughout, particularly in the Covid period. I met the board of the Dublin Airport Authority several months ago as well as the airlines and I meet all three airports regularly. It has been a difficult time. It was very difficult managing through Covid but we have absolutely been focused on what is in the interest of the Irish public and the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan 2021 sets out where we are going. The plan will be revised and assessed this autumn. We learn by doing. This will make for a better country. Waving fingers at or blaming people is no good. Doing this as a device of politics whereby someone is identified as being to blame or having responsibility does not work. This country is well placed to make the leap. One...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Wind Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The key measure for the development of offshore wind will be the acceleration task force that I mentioned in reply to the previous question. We have four or five key tasks to do in offshore renewables. We have to give the consent now for the first phase of the offshore wind projects, get them through planning - some of them will get through and others will not - and get them under contract...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Wind Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: My understanding is that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage recently announced the appointment of Captain Robert McCabe as chairperson of the seafood offshore renewable energy working group. This group will dovetail with this acceleration task force so, yes, it is starting its work. The scale and the speed required are beyond compare. In the context of these...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Wind Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: This phase will not include offshore floating wind projects, but phase 2 and phase 3 certainly will. As we go into the western waters, where it becomes deep very suddenly, these facilities will have to be floating in order for them to work. Close to shore, there is not as much depth. There is real development-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Wind Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The consents in the phase 2 process must be agreed in the next two and a half to three years. That is the timeline so that we meet our 5 GW target by the end of the decade. The third phase, or the enduring regime, is where this really opens up. Returning to what we were discussing earlier, with many of these projects, the potential deployment of offshore renewables for hydrogen so...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: We launched a microgeneration support scheme in December. The scheme is targeting support for 380 MW of installed microgeneration capacity, to contribute to the target of up to 2.5 GW of solar renewables. The microgeneration support scheme domestic solar photovoltaic grant is available from the SEAI, with grant levels up to a maximum of €2,400 available. On 15 February, I signed...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The RTB is the best option, and the scheme was designed as such from the very start. In those cases, it is the local representatives working through the council who should make sure that they have it. There is a basic principle that every householder in the country, regardless of their tenancy arrangements, is due to get the credit. If there is a council, such as Wexford County Council,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The main reason coal use increased is because the price of gas went up so high that coal came in earlier on the merit order. We are also in a very tight situation in terms of power generation, not only because of data centres but also as a result of a variety of other issues. I attended and addressed at the EPA conference yesterday. I said that, critically, the response is in the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: No one is saying that. The Deputy should recognise that no new data centres have been approved since September 2020. I have been very clear. EirGrid and the CRU have both recognised that in terms of the development of that industry. Digital industries here employ more than 140,000 people and we need to hold onto those jobs. The industry recognises that, as EirGrid, the CRU and I, as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I heard the Tánaiste state in this House not too long ago, and I agree with him, that the future in regard to Shannon is in hydrogen. Let us consider Cork Harbour and the Shannon Estuary, where much of our heavy industry is located. It is where much of our electricity generation, oil refineries and pharmaceuticals are based, all of which will switch to hydrogen. It is also the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: In the provision of energy, we must get three things right. We must get the price right because we have to protect our householders. We must get the environment right and stop the planet from burning due to the local pollution that comes with a lot of fossil fuel use. We also must secure energy supply. I believe the development of hydrogen back-up power, storage and usage in power...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Act 2022 established a scheme for the making of a once-off electricity costs emergency benefit payment to each domestic electricity account in 2022 having regard to the exceptional rise in energy prices. The credit of €176.22, excluding VAT, which suppliers began applying in April, will be applied to remaining...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Prices (2 Jun 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Absolutely. District heating is going to play an extremely important role in the decarbonisation of the heating sector. There are certain areas, especially where waste heat is available, where this approach will be the preferred solution compared to retrofitting or insulating buildings. It can have real advantages and offer protection for our country. There are slight variations and...