Results 1,241-1,260 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Topical Issue Debate: Alternative Energy Projects (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I thank Deputy Griffin for giving me the opportunity to address the House on this important issue. I have already spoken on the issue in discussion with my ministerial colleague, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, and with Deputy Arthur Spring, both of whom have consistently engaged with me on this issue. At the outset, let me underline the Government's positive interest in the potential investment by...

Topical Issue Debate: Inland Waterways Maintenance (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I thank the Deputy Bannon for raising this matter. On behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Deputy Brian Hayes, who is absent on business, I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the subject of the management structure of the River Shannon. At the outset, it would be useful to outline briefly the position regarding the...

Topical Issue Debate: Inland Waterways Maintenance (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: As Deputy Bannon said, one of the main problems with the Shannon is the frequent flooding. I accept that. The management of flood risk on the Shannon is being actively and comprehensively addressed through the OPW's catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme. The CFRAM programme is the core strategy for addressing flood risk in the Shannon basin. The CFRAM study is...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: It seems to be a very solid figure according to this document. Part of it relates to pension contributions from the various agencies, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Digital Hub, Ordnance Survey and so on. The rest relates to money that comes back from the Corrib verification process. It totals €2.888 million.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: It is just our membership fees.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Deputy's constituency is a hinterland of great beauty, which is very valuable and should not be played down.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I know. The Deputy is working very hard at it. The Deputy is not, in all fairness, alone in that regard. The dispersal of the national gas networks is decided on established economic criteria by the regulator. A number of additional towns were linked up last year, the biggest of which is Wexford. The last town admitted for connection is Nenagh. The test applied was not met by Sligo. I...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: As the Deputy will be aware, the existing contract and arrangement subsists until 2016. The existing owners of Whitegate have indicated that they are in the market to dispose of the facility. I met the American senior officials prior to Christmas, who informed me they have not yet secured a buyer. It is not for me to make judgments in regard to whether a buyer will be secured but my...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The speed of change is difficult to capture. Last September, there were 27 opt-out channels. Most took advertising from Dublin. By the middle of this month, there were 36. The pace is bewildering.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Yes.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: There is some employment benefit. There is a commitment to generating a minimum of domestic programmes, approximately one hour per day. It is another competitor on the scene. Given that it is UTV, which has been established for a long time in Northern Ireland, it is not a novice in the politics and public affairs of this island. In that sense, it has resources to back it up and...

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Yes.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: There is another element to it. We had a special provision last year for the EU Presidency. That has been withdrawn.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: It is tight. As the Deputy can see from the figures before him, there is no fat in the Department. This applies to the SEAI as well. I have held discussions with its board and chief executive. They would like to add certain expertise if they could but, like everywhere else, they are subject to the savings and everything else that had to be effected.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: That is part of the stimulus money that I got last summer or at whatever stage of the year it was. It is largely due to the stimulus package.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Yes. The Deputy asked what "cash limited" meant. It means that the normal facility that one would have in a programme to vire money from an area where it was not being used to one where it could be used productively is not permitted. Where the heading is cash limited, one must spend it for the purpose or else.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: It is due to the stimulus package.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Pretty much. Some of the money will go into the warmer homes scheme and the retrofit scheme, but it will all be in under the general rubric of the better energy scheme.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The regulator has advanced proposals in respect of smart metering and has carried out an extensive survey of its impact on encouraging people, their ability to manage their energy usage and so on. These proposals are being made with a view to beginning to roll out the smart metering programme from 2015.

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: No, the spend last year was not what we had envisaged. I will bring a memorandum to the Government later this month or in the first couple of weeks of February on ocean energy generally and so on. It will be published. The sum would appear to be, by comparison with other constraints on us, a generous provision. It is an area where experts, including international ones, believe we have a...