Results 1-14 of 14 for 5 million speaker:Darren O'Rourke

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (27 Sep 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...centres consumed 18% of all the electricity generated here and increased their power consumption by an astounding 31%. This means they now account for almost one fifth of all electricity consumed. Just seven years ago, this figure stood at 5%. To put this in context, overall energy consumption has risen by 20% in the past seven years, whereas for data centre consumption has risen by an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Discussion (26 Apr 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...I am not sure whether she is familiar with the Connecting Ireland programme, which is the Government's plan relating to regular daily journeys for populations numbering more than 300. It is a €56 million five-year programme and we are three years into it. The Government invested €5 million last year and spent €4 million. This year, it is investing €8 million...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...,400 people per week. It did not exist before; 1,400 people per week use it now. I heard from Local Link yesterday. It is a matter of funding to see additional services rolled out. There was €5 million last year and €4 million was spent; there is €8 million this year. We need to go further than that. I have a broader question. I have raised before daily...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Revised)
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...there are challenges in terms of recruitment of drivers. I hear from the operators that there challenges in getting buses that meet the requisite standard. If the Government's signal is that a €56 million plan which is supposed to be rolled out over five years is going to involve €5 million in the first year, with just €4 million of it bring spent, and €10...

Climate Action Plan 2023: Statements (18 Jan 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...budgets and into the emissions ceilings they provide. If we continue on our current trajectory, there is a real risk that we will max out or exhaust our first carbon budget well in advance of 2025. There is significant detail in the climate action plan and a ten-minute statement will not address all of it. I will break it down into a number of areas. There is broad political consensus...

Public Transport: Motion [Private Members] (25 Oct 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: ...; — that expanding affordable, accessible and reliable public transport infrastructure across the island can deliver environmental, social and economic benefits to all cities, towns and regions; — that 13.5 per cent of the population have a disability, and ensuring universal access for all on public transport must be a priority; — that a lack of public transport...

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Oct 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: ...legislation to give the regulator the power to regulate standing charges and beef up its consumer protection abilities. We recently learned that domestic electricity customers had paid €600 million over the past decade to subsidise large energy users' costs. This was an incredible revelation in the Irish Independent. The CRU has now cancelled that charge, but it has replaced it...

Public Transport: Motion [Private Members] (5 Oct 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: ...’s approach to transport policy. It will be critical of the Government's decision to place so many eggs in the basket of electric vehicles. It is well known at this stage that the target of 1 million EVs is a fantasy target and meaningless. If Government had sense, it would just walk away from that, for many reasons. The many reasons for expanding the public transport...

Emissions in the Transport Sector Report: Motion (16 Jun 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: ...of public transport provision and I am concerned that we might run ourselves off the edge of a cliff by not adequately supporting private operators. The climate action plan sets out a target of 1 million EVs on our roads by 2030. The transition away from diesel and petrol cars will deliver significant emissions reductions. EVs are not the solution everywhere. There are more attractive...

Carbon Budget: Motion (6 Apr 2022)

Darren O'Rourke: ...not have the luxury of more time. The time for talking on climate has passed; radical action is needed now. These carbon budgets are the advisory council’s best estimate and, if implemented, can deliver the 51% reduction in emissions by 2030. We in Sinn Féin are in no doubt about the scale of the climate crisis facing the world and, in line with our support for our 2030...

Data Centre Moratorium: Motion [Private Members] (29 Sep 2021)

Darren O'Rourke: ...policies pursued by Fine Gael in recent years and continued by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. In the last four years, data centre demand has grown by 2,400 GW hours, the equivalent of 560,000 homes. If allowed to continue, current and planned data centres could consume anywhere between 25% and 70% of peak electricity demand by 2030. This simply is not feasible or...

Regional Airports and Aviation: Statements (17 Jun 2021)

Darren O'Rourke: ...for Cork, Shannon, Ireland West, Kerry and Donegal airports, is there a plan for such a scheme to be introduced for these airports or has the Government combined these recommendations in the €26 million package approved by the European Commission earlier this year? If that is the case, I fear the Government has greatly underestimated the scale of support needed by the sector. I...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Revised)
Vote 31 - Transport (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Darren O'Rourke: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for the update. I wish to raise supports for taxi drivers with her. I will refer to a number of the measures taken. There was €150 for the suitability test. There was a one-year extension, not a rollover. If taxi drivers were at nine years last year, they got an extra year, but they are faced with a significant cost this year. Why...

Health (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (24 Feb 2021)

Darren O'Rourke: ...of honour, that on first hearing of the British variant it imposed a travel ban the next day. What decisive action. While this is how the Government intends to carry on, did it work? It did not, not by a million miles, as 90% of all cases here are now from that exact variant. The Minister knows that by the time variants are discovered in other countries, it is too late and the ship has...