Results 14,561-14,580 of 16,478 for speaker:Tommy Broughan

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: At the height of the winter season, Christmas, for example, could somebody say these were unreasonable demands? If one of the Minister of State's successors had to explain why there had been a blackout, this could get him or her off the hook in respect of security of supply.

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: This could apply to any product.

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I support the amendment and the important principle Deputy Ferris is seeking to insert in section 9. The evolution of the electricity market in the years ahead will be critical and a competitive market with the lowest prices will be important. However, it is also a concern that the networks, in particular, and key generation assets could end up in private ownership. Deputy Ferris is...

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, line 10, after "MARKET" to insert the following: "AND FOR MECHANISMS TO PROTECT THE INTERESTS OF ELECTRICITY CONSUMERS". The aim of this amendment is to change the Title of the Bill by inserting the phrase "AND FOR MECHANISMS TO PROTECT THE INTERESTS OF ELECTRICITY CONSUMERS". I thought it would be appropriate to amend the Title, particularly because in...

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I accept section 9 refers to the importance of consumers' interests. When the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 was brought forward, we tried to plug the gap in regard to the role of CER and the needs of consumers. Representatives of CER attended a meeting of the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and offered an explanation for the incredible swingeing...

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, line 15, to delete "(Amendment)". Either the word "amendment" or the words "single electricity market" should be used.

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I support Deputy Durkan's amendment. The Minister and the Taoiseach indicated there would be a new Oireachtas committee. I presume it will come into being in the next Parliament, the 30th Dáil. Given the SEM is an all-Ireland body and operates under the implementation bodies established under the Belfast Agreement, can the Minister guarantee that the new Oireachtas committee dealing with...

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: Now that we are dealing with the Bill it would be useful to know whether we were going to have an all-Ireland committee for the all-Ireland market.

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: Perhaps the Minister of State will have it before 7 p.m.

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: The remaining 1,300 postmasters and postmistresses have voted overwhelmingly not to engage with the Fortis project because of the dire circumstances in which they find themselves. Next Tuesday they, along with their families and supporters, will protest outside Leinster House at the Minister's management of the network for the past three years. The Minister claims he has no plans to publish...

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: Is that not a disgraceful situation over which the Minister presides? Some 400 post offices are still not automated. The Minister must know the fundamental role played by post offices in rural Ireland. As the Irish Farmers' Journal stated in a recent article, the Minister has written the post mortem for rural Ireland in his failure to protect the post office network. Is it not time he...

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: And a fishing Green Paper last Sunday.

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: What about the passports and the money transfers? There was a package.

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: There are other services. It is only one of many.

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: That is because they are desperate. Some 600 post offices have closed.

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: The Minister has halved the number.

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: That may have been the case in 1997 but the Minister needs to check the latest figures.

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: That is not correct. They want to automate their operations but were not allowed to do so.

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: That is the Minister's role.

Postal Service. (14 Feb 2007)

Tommy Broughan: What is the number?