Results 12,001-12,020 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Horticulture Sector (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I believe-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Horticulture Sector (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: That is what I heard. We can and we will. We need a horticultural industry. It is very important that we protect those jobs. It is very important that we find alternative solutions. I am confident that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which has key responsibility in this area, will be able to find the peat stocks which we can use in the interim period with adherence to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Policy (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The first step was the launch of the scheme the week before last. I think it caught the public imagination. We know from our own constituencies and from elsewhere that the public is interested this for a variety of reasons. It wants to play its part in helping to tackle climate change. It wants better, healthier and warmer homes. It has also seen the shocking scale of fuel bills, with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The first person I go to is the Secretary General in the Department. There is, however, a specific assistant secretary who I go to in terms of anything related to our network system. It is our responsibility in our Department to oversee the development, deployment and security of the networks. Both that assistant secretary and the director of the NCSC are directly responsible to me and to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The recently launched national home energy upgrade scheme introduces a new, highly customer-centric way to undertake home upgrades. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, registered one-stop shops will provide an end-to-end service for homeowners. This includes surveying, designing the upgrades, managing the grant process, helping with access to finance, engaging contractors and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: To give details on the skills issue, in last year's budget, the Government provided €22 million for the green skills action programme with a particular focus on near-zero energy building and retrofitting, with a significant increase in course places. The Minister, Deputy Harris, actually came up to me after we launched the national retrofit scheme to say that not only did we have a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Environmental Schemes (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: To be clear, that 80% grant was done very specifically in response to the immediate price crisis in terms of high fossil fuel prices due to those international factors. It was, therefore, done very deliberately and involved targeted measures that could be done quickly and relatively cheaply such as attic and wall insulation. I do not think householders will be or should be doing those...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Horticulture Sector (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: My Department engaged with all stakeholders through the deliberations of the working group on the use of peat moss in the horticultural industry. In addition, on foot of a request for direct discussions with my Department, my officials met with representatives of the professional horticulture sector, including the mushroom sector, to discuss the legal position regarding peat extraction and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Production (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: It is critical that we develop clean electricity because it can only be green hydrogen. As a State, we will not go down the route of hydrogen coming from natural gas which would only worsen our energy security issue. Some 90% of our energy is imported into this country at the present time. We have to change this for climate and other reasons. The green hydrogen strategy goes hand in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Production (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Deputy asked a variety of questions. Obviously, safety has to come first. One of the issues with the networks is that green hydrogen has different characteristics such as much smaller molecules. Therefore, when it comes to the distribution gas network, even though ours is very modern, leakage becomes a more significant issue. Ports will be central to our hydrogen strategy because that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Production (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: Yes. We are looking at a variety of schemes.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The role of the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, is to support Departments and other public bodies to improve the resilience and security of their IT systems to better protect services upon which people rely and their data. The NCSC has a number of vital functions, including co-ordinating the response to large-scale cybersecurity incidents; supporting public sector bodies and critical...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The first responsibility there is on the network providers. I have seen in the past how they work on a collective basis, including with the NCSC and other agencies, to make sure their networks are as secure as possible. They have the primary responsibility for the networks. However, the NCSC has overall responsibility. It is the centre of excellence and expertise in the State, to which...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: There are over 276,000 premises in County Cork of which over 80,600 are within the NBP intervention area and they will receive access to high speed broadband under the NBP. Government investment in County Cork in the NBP will be in the order of €314 million. National Broadband Ireland, NBI, has made steady progress on delivery of the new high-speed fibre broadband network under the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I will make a broad point. The NBP is of critical importance and it is hugely important that we have the whole country covered but it is not the only investment that is taking place. There is huge investment taking place in a competitive market with operators like Eir, Virgin Media, SIRO and others. They are chasing after customers and investing all around the country and we are starting...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The point I was making to Deputy Gould is that we are seeing fierce competition between the other providers to get to customers because Eir is investing and significantly expanding and as I recall it had an additional 300,000 rural houses that it went to get to. Having done those it is moving to the next block and it is also moving into urban areas because it sees that it is at risk of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: It comes down to each individual house and that is how companies plan to roll out the network. In the timeframe that was mentioned we will go to a situation where the vast majority of houses, be they in rural or urban Ireland, will have access to fast fibre-optic cable broadband. That will position us well in the provision of public services, helping small businesses and as the Deputy...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Production (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The role of hydrogen and the actions needed for its development were considered as part of the development of the climate action plan 2021. The plan, published in November, identifies green hydrogen as having the potential to support decarbonisation across several sectors and, in particular, as a source for high-temperature heat in industry and flexible generation in electricity. A key...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: I will look at the threshold for turnover. I do not want to have such a complex bureaucratic system that we create a separate issue. However, if the turnover is a difficulty, we will look at it. There are a variety of issues when it comes to higher costs. Obviously, cargo ferry costs are one of the most significant. My Department, in a variety of ways, is keen to support, and is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (24 Feb 2022)

Eamon Ryan: The Government supports it. Regarding grant levels, a key grant would be for something like a heat pump. In that instance, the grant will stay fixed but the overall building costs may change. It is appropriate for us to have a mechanism whereby there is a set level in order that people have certainty. We do not want to create a completely different and separate system for the islands,...