Results 1,441-1,460 of 28,255 for speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Let us presume the Government had a policy. I had policies like that when I was a Minister. The policy issue is easy; it is a two-minute job. We will be coming to that section after a while. My question is whether there would be a legal difficulty with it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: It would be very useful. I hear what Ms MacEvilly is saying about equity and the public. However, equity is always in the view of the beholder. The one-off house owner does not anticipate this cost and therefore they are not making submissions to public consultations. Ms MacEvilly and I have been around long enough to know that public consultations are very much the province of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I ask Ms MacEvilly to send us details of that. I will be back.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I will try to be as focused as I can. Could ESB Networks confirm if all domestic customers who put up solar panels are guaranteed they will get a connection to the grid and will be able find someone to buy their surplus electricity? My second question is to Uisce Éireann. Some 10% of houses in the State do not have a water supply from Uisce Éireann or a high-quality group...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: But if land gets zoned, Uisce Éireann does build out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Yes, but Uisce Éireann is still building out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: So Uisce Éireann can build out, sometimes with its own money and sometimes with the Department's money. Could Uisce Éireann build out a water scheme?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: This is just wastewater.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: That is right; council houses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Uisce Éireann is in the lower part of the village. It is a very microscopic part of what is a reasonably conglomerated settlement. Would it help the job considerably if there was a 50:50 offer from the Department of Rural and Community Development to encourage Uisce Éireann along the road? I am just being pragmatic about it. The witnesses have to sell it to their bosses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I am talking about doing a proper job. If those two micro schemes had not been there, Mr. O'Reilly would be telling me it would not be done.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: We have the schemes, but they are microscopic compared to the size of the village. They are legacy issues that Uisce Éireann inherited in a variety of ways, including court cases. Obviously we will be expecting the Department to provide money. It would take considerable money to put a new sewer into Kilronan. It would cost a lot less money to just upgrade the existing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I do not know if Mr. O'Reilly knows Kilronan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: The schemes are on the edge of the village. The irony of it is that the centre of the village does not have sewerage. It is perverse but that is the way it happened for historic reasons. We are not talking about stretching half way across to Mainistir or Cill Éinne, we are talking about doing the core of the village and around it, as it is quite agglomerated. I refer to the part that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: My experience is that it all comes down to money in the end.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: We did that in Camas years ago.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: That is great news. There was also a question for ESB Networks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Is it a one-off house?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Did the county council give Mr. Nicholson a grant?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Water and Energy Connections in Rural Areas: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I wish I was living in County Limerick rather than County Galway.