Results 1,601-1,620 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Conservation (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: While I agree with the Deputy that insulation and retrofitting are vital to conserving energy and boosting domestic employment, I do not accept that Ireland is underperforming in this area. Under the range of Better Energy Schemes administered on behalf of my Department by SEAI, energy efficiency retrofitting has been supported in over 163,000 homes, while almost 112,000 homes in energy...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The National Broadband Plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Electric Vehicle Grants (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The 2009 Renewable Energy Directive sets all Member States a binding target that at least 10% of the energy used in the transport sector must come from renewable sources by 2020. Ireland aims to meet this target mainly through the use of sustainable biofuels with electric vehicles also making a contribution. The Electric Vehicle Grant Scheme supports and incentivises, through grants of...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The National Broadband Plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Trading Online Voucher Scheme (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: In July 2014, my Department launched a national Trading Online Voucher Scheme, following a successful pilot in the Dublin area. The scheme is a key initiative under the Government’s National Digital Strategy and the Action Plan for Jobs. The changes in consumption patterns and citizen behaviour that come with the online revolution are affecting all Irish businesses. Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The National Broadband Plan will deal conclusively with the rural connectivity issues so that current and future generations will have a guaranteed access to high quality, high speed broadband. The network we wish to see built will, therefore, have to be scalable and capable of meeting future anticipated traffic growth. Whatever the technology used, the proposed intervention must ensure...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Natural Gas Grid (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The development and expansion of the natural gas network is in the first instance a commercial matter for Gaslink, which is mandated under Section 8 of the Gas Act 1976, as amended, to develop and maintain a national system for the supply of natural gas that is both economical and efficient. The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), is statutorily responsible for all aspects of the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Post Office Network (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong and viable company, in a position to provide a high-quality postal service and maintain a nationwide customer-focused network of post offices in the community. The post office network faces significant challenges given the impact of the economic downturn over the last few years, changes in technology and customer retail preferences. The...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Public Service Obligation Levy (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy has been in place since 2001 and is the overall support mechanism for generation constructed for security of supply purposes, including peat generation, and for the development of renewable electricity. It is designed to compensate electricity suppliers for the additional costs they incur by purchasing electricity generated by these producers. The...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Sale of State Assets (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: On 30 June 2014, the sale of Bord Gáis Energy was completed. In line with the share purchase agreement entered into by Ervia, formally Bord Gáis Éireann. The total enterprise value, inclusive of debt, for the sale is €1.1 billion, including a small element of contingent consideration. With regard to the revenue raised from the sale of Bord Gáis Energy, the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Appointments to State Boards (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The Public Appointments Service (PAS), in conjunction with NewERA, managed the recent selection process for the filling of vacancies on the Board of Ervia in accordance with the "Guidelines on appointments to State Boards" published by the Government in November 2014. Four vacancies were advertised on the www.stateboards.iewebsite on 20 November 2014 and candidates were required to submit...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Employment Data (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020, to be achieved through 40% renewables in electricity, 12% in heat and 10% in transport. In 2013, 20.9% of electricity, 5.7% of heat and 4.9% of transport, were met from renewable sources. In terms of achieving our 2020 targets, to date wind...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: National Postcode System Implementation (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: My Department commenced a procurement process for a National Postcode System in 2011. An open and competitive procurement process was conducted in accordance with Department of Finance and EU procurement frameworks. A pre-qualification questionnaire was issued on on 17 January 2011. This invited interested parties to tender for the contract as a postcode management licence holder for a...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Post Office Network (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong and viable company, in a position to provide a high-quality postal service and maintain a nationwide customer-focused network of post offices in the community. Operational matters including the opening and closing of post offices are a matter for the Board and management of An Post. It is worth noting that, while there were 197 net post...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Public Service Charges (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The Programme for Government commits to examining the role and collection of the TV licence fee in light of existing and projected convergence of technologies and to transforming the TV licence into a household based Public Servcie Broadcasting Charge to be applied to all eligible households and applicable businesses, regardless of the device used to access content or services I am...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: The National Broadband Plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Wind Energy Guidelines (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: This is not a matter in which I, as Minister, have a statutory role or function. I am advised that wind turbines come within the scope of the EU Machinery Directive. The European Communities (Machinery) Regulations, 2008 transposed the EU Machinery Directive which is a "New Approach" Directive into Irish law. The New Approach legislative technique was approved by the Council of Ministers...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: EU State Aid Negotiations (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: Any State investment into a competitive market such as telecommunications must comply with EU State Aid rules, mainly aimed at ensuring that such investment only takes place in cases where it is clear that commercial investment will not take place. Public funds should, therefore, be complementary to commercial investment and not a substitute for it. The current State Aid Guidelines...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Electricity Transmission Network (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: EirGrid has a statutory obligation to explore and develop opportunities for interconnection with other transmission systems. The benefits of electricity and gas interconnection with other countries are numerous. Interconnectors enhance security of supply, increase competitiveness, and improve integration of renewable electricity generation resources. In the context of achieving a fully...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Gas Exploration Licences (29 Jan 2015)

Alex White: As has been outlined on a number of occasions, no decision will be made on any proposal for the use of hydraulic fracturing, as part of an unconventional gas exploration or extraction project, until there has been time to consider the outcome of a major research programme, directed at examining the potential environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, which was commissioned by the...