Results 1,561-1,580 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Schemes (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) manage a number of residential and community energy upgrade grant support schemes on behalf of my Department. Grant support of up to €6,500 is available to install heat pumps under the Better Energy Home Scheme, and up to €10,500 under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme or the Community Energy Grant Scheme. SEAI has...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Schemes (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: In recent years, the Warmer Homes Scheme has delivered a greater volume of deeper and more complex upgrades. This is reflected in the average cost of upgrades which have seen an almost tenfold increase from €2,600 in 2015 to just over €25,800 in 2024. These deeper upgrades mean that more lower income homeowners are benefitting significantly from warmer, healthier and more...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Small-Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (SRESS) will enable community projects, larger businesses, farms, and public buildings to maximise their participation in the energy transition. The first phase of SRESS was launched in July 2023. This sees both SRESS and the Microgeneration Support Scheme (MSS) providing grant support to larger businesses, farms, public buildings, and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Change Policy (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Community Climate Action Programme (CCAP) will see €60.5 million from the Climate Action Fund (CAF) invested in community climate action projects and initiatives, as well as capacity building, over a number of years. This Programme aims to support and empower communities to shape and build low carbon, sustainable communities in a coherent way. The Community Climate Action Programme...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Building Energy Rating (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Action Plan set ambitious targets to retrofit, by 2030, the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B2/cost optimal and install 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes to replace older, less efficient heating systems. The National Retrofit Plan estimates that, between 2019 and 2025, almost 185,000 home energy upgrades will be delivered with over 83,000 to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy, published by my Department, sets ambitious targets, which include providing a Gigabit network to all households and businesses in Ireland by 2028 and access to 5G in all populated areas by 2030. National Broadband Ireland (NBI) is currently rolling out a high speed and future-proofed broadband network. The intervention area covers over 1.1 million...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Infrastructure (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: During 2023, my Department held a public consultation on private wires. The consultation ran from 18th August until 27th October 2023 and during this time over 120 submissions were received. Work in respect of the consultation submissions is currently ongoing within my Department, with a report on submission responses now expected for publication during the summer. This report will include...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: In March 2023, Government approved that Ireland’s first forward spatial plan for offshore renewable energy (ORE) would be established off the South Coast of Ireland. This was further approved with the support of both houses of the Oireachtas in May 2023. A draft forward spatial plan, known as the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) for ORE, was published on 3 May this...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Infrastructure (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy, published by my Department, sets ambitious targets, which include providing a Gigabit network to all households and businesses in Ireland by 2028 and access to 5G in all populated areas by 2030. National Broadband Ireland (NBI) is currently rolling out a high speed and future-proofed broadband network. The intervention area covers over 1.1 million...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: State Bodies (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Climate Change Advisory Council was established under section 8 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. The Advisory Council is independent in the performance of its functions, and is tasked with advising and making recommendations to the Minister and Government including but not limited to the national mitigation plan, preparation of the national adaptation framework,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Security (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The threat posed by the proliferation and misuse of commercially available cyber intrusion capabilities, upon national security; human rights and fundamental freedoms; and a free, open, peaceful, stable, and secure cyberspace, is widely recognised. This is a threat that must be approached multilaterally and also via multi-stakeholder methods, with participation of international...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Infrastructure (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy, published by my Department, sets ambitious targets, which include providing a Gigabit network to all households and businesses in Ireland by 2028 and access to 5G in all populated areas by 2030. The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the government's initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland. The Question refers to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action Plan (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The 'Programme for Government: Our Shared Future' committed to ‘undertake a national land use review, including farmland, forests, and peatlands, so that optimal land use options inform all relevant Government decisions. The review will balance environmental, social, and economic considerations and involve a process of evaluation of the ecological characteristics of the land. It will...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 116 and 117 together. 27630 and 27640 together. Different aspects of the safety and regulatory regime for electricity storage systems, including battery electricity storage systems (BESS), are handled by different sets of regulations and regulatory bodies here in Ireland. Regarding battery classification and standardisation, Ireland conforms to EU...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Illegal Dumping (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: In accordance with the Waste Management Act, the management of waste including the remediation of legacy landfill sites, such as Whitestown, is the legal responsibility of the respective local authorities. Local Authorities must comply with the remediation requirements in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waste licence regime. The Government established a landfill...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Fishing Industry (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Government created a salmon hardship fund for those who were directly affected by the cessation of mixed stock fishing in 2006. The scheme was administered by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) – a body under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Neither my Department nor Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) had any function or role to play in the administration and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Prices (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Act 2023 was enacted in November 2023 and was commenced on 4 December 2023. This Act implemented a cap on market revenues of specific electricity generators as required in Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 of 6 October 2022 on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices. The Act provides for the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Policies (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 124 together. The matters referred to come within the remit of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I have no function.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Infrastructure (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Seveso III Directive was implemented by the Chemicals Act and the Control of Major Accident Hazards involving Dangerous Substances or COMAH Regulations 2015. The COMAH Regulations have a strong and explicit link to the Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulations (CLP). I am advised that, under the CLP, a battery, as part of a battery energy storage system (BESS), is not considered...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (27 Jun 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The Single Use Plastics Directive (Directive EU 2019/904), adopted in 2019, aims to reduce the volume and impact of single-use plastics on the environment, including the marine environment. It targets the ten most commonly-found single-use plastic items found on European beaches which, alongside fishing gear, represent 70% of all marine litter in the EU. The Directive was transposed into...