Results 101-120 of 6,063 for speaker:Alan Dillon

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Recycling Policy (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: -----that will see a reduction in those unredeemed deposits as we move forward with more campaigns and more informative education. We are also looking at expanding the DRS for municipal bulk machines to ensure people can come to municipal areas and to address that. Regarding the salaries, as I said earlier, Re-turn is a not-for-profit organisation. Individual salaries are not reported...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Solar Energy Guidelines (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: I thank Deputy Whitmore. The warmer homes scheme, operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, on behalf of the Department, is really important in efforts to tackle energy poverty and improve the energy efficiency of homes for those most in need. It is fully funded through carbon tax receipts and the European Regional Development Fund. Last year saw a record spend of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Recycling Policy (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: The deposit return scheme was introduced in February 2024 to help Ireland to meet ambitious EU recycling targets and to encourage more sustainable consumer behaviour. I am pleased to report the scheme has made a strong start and is delivering on its core objectives. Re-turn, the not-for-profit operator, has seen the registration of 287 producers covering over 11,000 products and the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Recycling Policy (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: I reassure the House that the unredeemed deposits are a normal and expected feature of deposit return schemes internationally. As of the end of 2024, €320 million had been refunded to consumers with €66 million remaining unclaimed. This is not a failure. It reflects the early phases of the scheme but it also will naturally reduce as we move forward towards our EU targets of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: I am pleased to confirm that the 2025 funding round for the circular economy innovation grant scheme, CEIGS, was launched on 10 September. This scheme is a key driver of Ireland's transition to a circular economy supporting innovative projects led by social enterprises, voluntary and community organisations and small businesses. Since its launch in April 2021, we have awarded €1.8...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: I am in full agreement that we need to continue to scale-up the scheme to sustain the investment by many SMEs and community organisations. That is why at the end of this year we will have allocated over €2.4 million. We need to continue on that trajectory of supporting many of these pioneering projects. I had the opportunity to visit the Irish Manufacturing Research facility in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Deputy for her interest in this area. It needs to be a bottom-up, top-down led approach. We are looking to publish the draft of the circular economy strategy. A key area of focus will be targeted actions. Local authorities can play a huge part within the local government system. However, we need a stronger uptake around innovation in these areas. We will have a public...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Recycling Policy (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Deputy for the question. The deposit return scheme was introduced in February 2024 to encourage higher recycling rates for plastic bottles and cans and to help Ireland meet its EU recycling targets. Since becoming fully operational in June, 2024, the scheme has delivered strong results. According to Re-turn, the scheme operator, Ireland achieved a 66% collection rate in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Recycling Policy (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: The reality is that Ireland currently does not have a facility capable of fully recycling PET bottles into new food-safe drinks containers. Some operators do look at the processing of PET into flakes. That said, the DRS has created a consistent stream of high-quality recyclate. Re-turn is actively exploring the viability of establishing Ireland's first bottle-to-bottle recycling plant....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Recycling Policy (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: The Deputy should bear in mind that the current technical capacity was not in place previously. The scheme was only introduced in June 2024. 11 o’clock The company had to establish a supply chain to strategically invest in a facility of this type. Thanks to the DRS, we now have a supply chain and market conditions that are favourable and make economic sense to establish a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Data Centres (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: The programme for Government sets out a clear policy direction that balances energy, housing, climate and economic development. It recognises that increased and unprecedented investment in our electricity grid and generation capacity is essential to meet future demand, not just for data centres but for housing, electric vehicles, heat pumps and a growing population. The electricity and gas...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Data Centres (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: Let us be clear: households are not subsidising data centres. All users of our electricity grid contribute to its development. The CRU, as the independent regulator, ensures costs are fairly and proportionally allocated. In fact, extra large energy users, including data centres, have seen network costs increase in recent years compared with those for domestic customers. Price review 6 is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Data Centres (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Deputy. First, the Secretary General of our Department rightly pointed out that policy choices must be made, and we are making them. Certainly, that is why we are investing in housing, the grid and water infrastructure. These are the three pillars that will support sustainable development in this country. The idea that data centres are being prioritised over homes is not...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: In the context of what we are discussing, the reality is that Ireland operates in a liberalised EU energy market where prices are set commercially, not by governments. That said, we are not passive observers in this regard. The CRU has statutory powers to oversee suppliers' conduct. We have recently strengthened its protections for consumers this winter. On profits, I accept that energy...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Deputy. I convey the apologies of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. He is at an EU Environment Council meeting on the 2040 environmental targets. We sought a swap but due to the Dáil resuming that was very difficult. On the Deputy's question, the Government has made a number of important commitments in respect of addressing the continued high cost of energy. The programme...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: We have as a Government delivered over €3.3 billion in credits to over 2.3 million households in recent times, but we need to be strategic with this upcoming budget. Once-off measures are certainly not a long-term fix. That is why, as I said earlier, we have established the national energy affordability task force which is preparing an interim report to inform budget 2026. We are...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy (WAPCE) 2020-2025 established an ambitious suite of measures to continuously improve Ireland’s waste management systems, minimise waste and improve resource efficiency. The WAPCE will be updated in 2026 to ensure that it aligns with and drives the delivery and implementation of the new Circular Economy Strategy which will be published...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Recycling Policy (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) was introduced on 1 February 2024 to encourage more people to recycle plastic bottles and cans and to deliver on our ambitious EU targets for the recycling of those products. Re-turn always encourages consumers to redeem their deposits, and it is important that the public is aware that Re-turn retains an open-ended liability to refund deposits to consumers,...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: Dialogue within the European Union regarding the collection and reporting of data for all waste packaging takes place within the context of the Waste Framework Directive and related legislation such as the Waste Shipment Regulation and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, which will be replaced in 2026 by measures under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). ...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Funding (18 Sep 2025)

Alan Dillon: The Circular Economy Fund operates on an annual basis, with the €27million allocated for 2025 activities only. The Fund utilises revenues from environmental levies to provide financial support to the initiatives as prescribed for under Section 8 (9) of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 2022. Since the funding announcement earlier this year, successful...