Results 1,261-1,280 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte
- 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: People who visit Ireland are impressed by what we do. For example, in the Deputy's part of the world, the Irish maritime and energy resource cluster, IMERC, programme is highly valued and the work being done is important. If we encourage more partnerships with the private sector in terms of investment in the research programmes already under way, it would give us a considerable additional boost.
- 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: In circumstances where the contribution from the Department of Social Protection is 27% of RTE's revenue, one cannot ignore this very significant contribution. At some time in the past it was capped at the rate of the television licence at the time. In fact, the contribution is something like €144 per licence whereas the rest of us are paying €160. It would be unconscionable...
- 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 met the chairman and the director general recently and I have structured meetings with them throughout the year. They left me in no doubt that they have kept their side of the bargain which was that when it did not seem very feasible this time last year - as I made plain to this committee before and to competitors in the broadcasting space - that we required RTE to break even. This is the...
- 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 agree with Deputy Dooley. In fact, I do not disagree with any part of his contribution. If quality is sacrificed then the claim to be a public service broadcaster discharging its responsibilities under the legislation will fail. The BBC has €4 billion in licence fee revenue compared with RTE's budget, yet we expect quality output. If we do not get it, people question the...
- 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 figures in the budget acknowledge that there will be a deficiency in terms of the moneys going to RTE of approximately €5 million as a result of the budgetary decision.
- 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: Which one in particular is the Deputy referring to?
- 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 main one relates to the consultancy to carry out an economic survey of the contribution of commercial advertising. The Deputy knows that we are in the middle of looking at the BAI report and other work that has been done on the funding of public service broadcasting. On the one hand, the Deputy has pointed to less revenue coming in from the television licence as a result of the decision...
- 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, I do not think that will have implications. In the first instance, it is a matter for the regulator to have a look at. RTE has been restructuring its business and effecting cost savings. Some 500 people have left the company. There has been one agreement with the staff for pretty significant savings on the payroll. They have been trying to compete with advertising revenue migrating...
- 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.
- 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: We are entirely at the Chairman's disposal. I want to reassure Deputy Colreavy that regardless of how this started, there is now a close ongoing working relationship between the two Departments. It is envisaged on foot of the national digital strategy that the switch-on workshops I mentioned, which are expressly designed to try to assist weaker schools, will take place. The point that the...
- 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 pilot was done in Dublin with the Dublin City Enterprise Board before Christmas. The programme has been tweaked as a result of what we learned from that experience. The programme will be mainlined throughout the country from June of this year. We expect to get 1,000 small companies involved. Approximately 23% of small companies do business online. Our survey work tends to show that...
- 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 national broadband plan has an overall co-ordinating role. I have seen criticisms of the metropolitan area networks and the investment that went into them. I have seen criticisms of how well the national broadband strategy works in parts of rural Ireland. The long and the short and the tall of it is that if those investments were not made at the time, the situation would be much...
- 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: Clearly compatibility will be important. That is being incorporated in the building of the system. If I may use a phrase from recent days, Deputy, we will be swinging into compliance.
- 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 entire purpose is to make the system more efficient. The system selected, in the opinion of those who are experts in the area, will competently do what the Deputy is saying.
- 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: Ours will be a unique system. The reason that it will take 12 months to be brought into play is that other systems with which it is interacting will have to be brought into line. The government databases will be brought into line. I will be very glad to send the Deputy a note on it.
- 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 I said, I would be very happy to send the Deputy a detailed note on it and he can come back on the basis of that note.
- 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: Our capacity in urban areas, where there is fierce competition from the commercial sector, is comparable to that in any member state in the Union and better than some. The weakness in the system in terms of the more sparsely populated regions of the country have been identified and we have acknowledged that it will not happen without State intervention. In order to allow the State to...
- 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 have been ongoing discussions between senior officials in both Departments. I think there has been a meeting of minds on the capacity of the technology in terms of the teaching environment. The Deputy is correct on the need to optimise the use of broadband technology when high speed broadband is available to every second level school in the country. One cannot relax in the belief...
- 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 think, unless I misunderstand the Deputy's question, that is fairly straightforward in the sense that every school will have 100 megabytes and by September 2014, every second level school in Ireland, whether in Cape Clear or in Coolock will have 100 megabytes. The Departments of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and Education and Skills have made provision for what they call...
- 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: A what?