Results 19,001-19,020 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: I welcomed the Supreme Court judgment at the time and I still do. The amendments we will make to the Act will, I hope, reflect the judgment and set in place, as I said earlier, the graduated budgeting process that would allow us to deliver a step by step approach to meeting our climate targets. Without being critical of any one council, I should reflect that in the series of meetings I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The Deputy does not expect a county by county breakdown but I will give the figure for County Louth of the number of houses surveyed so far. Based on the information available on 15 September, I can advise that the following is the number of premises per county that have been surveyed to date: the figure for County Galway is 6,809, for County Louth it is 5,825 and for County Kildare it is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Just Transition Commissioner (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The ESB was required to put that advert in as a condition of a planning permission and it has to operate within the law. Yes, we should be open to alternative uses. The reality with the plant itself is the question of what other applications or uses there are for a plant which was very specifically designed, built and has been operated for 18 years for one use. How that very specific...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: In January 2018, my Department entered into a five year financial commitment of €10 million to establish four Climate Action Regional Offices, CAROs. One of these CAROs covers the Atlantic seaboard north region, encompassing the local authorities of Galway city and counties Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal. Mayo County Council is the lead local authority for Atlantic Seaboard North...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: It is my intention to try to provide the resources to ensure local authorities can serve their communities by preparing for the climate future that is ahead of us. The Bill I referred to earlier, which will amend the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, will include provisions about the role of local authorities and strengthening them in the delivery of new climate action...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: Absolutely. I hope we will shortly be able to consider such a review mechanism in the context of a new climate action Bill which will amend the 2015 Act. We hope to put in place a framework of three successive five-year budgets which will cover the coming years and further iterations of the climate action plan. These can be reviewed on a rolling basis, just as the Deputy suggests, with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: A prosperous and secure future for Irish agriculture is best served under our new climate plan. Central to that plan will be a new land use plan which starts, first and foremost, with a vision for the future prosperity of rural Ireland and the family farm. That will be achieved at the same time as we store carbon in the land using some of the mechanisms Teagasc has suggested, as I outlined,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Just Transition Commissioner (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The first progress report of the just transition commissioner, Mr. Kieran Mulvey, was published on 22 May. The report reflects a comprehensive engagement with relevant stakeholders in the midlands, setting out an analysis of the challenges facing the region, Bord na Móna workers, their families and communities arising from an accelerated exit from peat harvesting. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Just Transition Commissioner (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: Since the Deputy and I discussed this matter, I have had meetings with Mr. Mulvey, the ESB and the manager of Offaly County Council to discuss it. I am fully aware of the concerns in this matter, particularly in respect of the two plants to which the Deputy referred. I am sure the Deputy is fully aware that the only reason tenders for removal of the existing plant had to be advertised was...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: North-South Interconnector (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: As I said earlier, the North-South interconnector is critical to improving the efficient operation of the single electricity market and increasing security of electricity supply across the island of Ireland. It will also help us to move towards 70% renewable electricity, and other commitments that I mentioned earlier and will not repeat. The decision last week by the Minister for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: North-South Interconnector (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The Deputy is representing the concerns of his constituents here, as he is absolutely right to do. This has been a highly difficult process for everyone. As well as the planning process and the other reports I have mentioned, there have been cases brought to the High Court and the Supreme Court, which held a two-day hearing on October 2018. That has not been an easy process for those...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: North-South Interconnector (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: I will answer Deputy O'Rourke's questions first. I stand here on behalf of the Irish Government in all its elements, just as the Minister, Ms Mallon, is representative of the Administration up North. I imagine she made her decision in consultation with her colleagues in the same way that I consult with my colleagues regularly-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: North-South Interconnector (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: -----on the basis that this is a critical project for maintaining an all-island approach to energy. If we break that and lose an all-island approach to energy, it will be very expensive for householders here. We earlier mentioned the high cost of electricity. Failing to maintain an all-island approach and failing to have a united approach to the matter would bring considerable expense to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The next ten years will be critical if we are to address the climate and biodiversity crisis which threatens our safe future on this planet. The programme for Government commits to an average 7% per annum reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030, a 51% reduction over the decade, and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. It also recognises the special economic and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The national broadband plan, NBP, State-led intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland, NBI, under a contract signed last November. As I outlined in my reply to Deputy Murphy earlier, the national broadband plan network offers a high-speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 500 Mbps from the outset. This represents an increase from the 150 Mbps committed to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: My understanding is that there is not a decision to go from the centre out to the periphery. In fact, the whole nature of the broadband plan is that it will have to jump over most villages and towns where Eir, under its previous arrangement, agreed to provide high-speed broadband to that area. This whole project goes straight into the heartland of rural Ireland and there will not be any one...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The surveying work being done at the moment is to make sure we get the design right and that will determine the choice. It is not on the basis of which is closest to the centre or which is further out. It is designed to make it the easiest possible delivery. Included in that could be the use of ESB poles instead of Eir poles or looking at different options of delivery. This whole project,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: One of the few positives, if there are any-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: To answer those two questions first, there was a strategic decision in the application of fibre that the vast majority would be delivered in this manner. It is only the very last percentage most distant from an accessible pole where fixed wireless may be used. I believe that is the technology of the future and the technology we will need for the highest possible standards, so I do not see...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Electric Vehicles (22 Sep 2020)

Eamon Ryan: This refers to the earlier question on solar power. Under the SEAI sustainable communities programme, a range of communities around the country are considering innovative mechanisms to develop clean energy supplies. That would be a mechanism for the Deputy's community, or any other, in seeking to develop solutions. EV sales to date have been relatively slow by comparison with what we...