Results 1,841-1,860 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: -----have to be based on very strict UN guidelines in terms of what can be measured. It does not include all the additional measures at which Government is looking. Can I give the Deputy another example?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I have just come out of Cabinet where we have agreed a further measure to reduce the emissions in our cement sector. That is one example. To take the point the Deputy mentioned that we have not lived up to what we committed to in terms of increasing petrol and diesel prices, which I understand is referred to by the EPA, I explicitly said in every single Chamber, in this committee and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: No, it was-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The plan contains a whole variety of different options for changing our transport system. However, what I always said explicitly in the Dáil and in these committees is that would not be fair on the Irish public and that it would be socially unjust because what we need to do is provide the better alternative first.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: If I can just finish the point because this is important-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The biggest political obstacle in meeting our targets is getting political support for what we will do, which is reallocate road space so that the buses work quicker, traffic is less gridlocked and the system works for everyone. That, and not increasing prices of diesel and petrol, was the stated Government policy and my clear direction as Minister as to where we were going to go. It is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: No, I have not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: It is a UN system. The EPA acknowledges this. I had a very good meeting with the EPA. We absolutely rely on it for its independent scientific assessment. That is really useful. However, there are measures that are not fully funded yet or that need to be developed, for instance, the promotion of rail freight, which require further Government action and initiative before they can be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: We will not be late in putting this forward. We will present it to the European Commission before the end of June, which is when it wants it by. This is the important document. Earlier, draft documents were not the final document. I would have preferred to have had the document earlier last autumn rather than in December. It has taken us time to scale up the modelling capability within...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The long-term strategy will also be published in June. They go together and will both be finalised and agreed next month and, in the case of the NECP, presented to the European Commission. The latter is important because the Commission has to aggregate all NECPs, incorporating them into the European position within the climate negotiations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Could the Deputy show me another Department that has doubled in size in four years? That is what ours has done. We need to go further. One of the biggest problems we have had in the past four years has been that An Bord Pleanála had a very difficult period. We all know the reasons behind this. The body was not resourced enough. It has since been resourced, and my understanding,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I just looked around at my officials. I do not know how many of them were here three or five years ago. Mine is a whole new Department and new officials have come in.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The next government will also have a role in this, and we must have continuity. Meeting our climate ambition will require several governments in a row to give the issue complete focus, attention and priority in funding, staffing and other resources. The climate action plan was only approved in Cabinet last week. It recognises that the closing of the gap must be a part of the 2026 climate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I would appreciate it if the Deputy would.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: We set that out in the Government-approved climate action plan last week. For transport, rail freight is critical. As the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, stated this morning, road freight is the most challenging issue in transport. There has to be a strategic decision to switch to rail freight. That requires Dublin Port, the Port of Cork and the Port of Limerick to make the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I thank Deputy Bruton. This morning, the EPA said, as it said last year, that we are starting to deliver on retrofitting. We are starting to see targets met in our homes. One reason for that is that we have continued the carbon taxation system that was put in place in Deputy Bruton's time in government and it is working. It delivers social progressivity. It helps to protect against fuel...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Through the production of the car.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: That is the logic behind the carbon border adjustment mechanism. Ultimately, this NECP goes through a European Union process where it is collectivised. It will go to Belém in Brazil next year, where we have to update the national determined contribution. That is where we will know whether we are serious about climate, globally. The global stocktake shows we are not on track globally...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I will give another example. Cork BusConnects is going to another consultation. I am pulling my hair out saying that we have to be quick here. I was down in Cork on Friday, where the public and the councillors are kind of behind BusConnects now. The consultation process is so long that in three years' time when we finally come to the decision, we may have lost the people. That happened...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Finalisation of Draft National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Long-Term Strategy: Discussion (28 May 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Six years ago. That is part of our problem. We have such complicated legal requirements to meet on consultation and other processes. It sometimes takes so long that it undermines the benefit of the system.