Results 1-20 of 209 for long speaker:Darren O'Rourke

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (16 Apr 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: 161. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he has plans to establish investment frameworks for long-duration energy storage; to report on progress on long-duration energy storage in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16112/24]

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Feb 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: ...the first carbon budget will be met. Nowhere is this Government's failure clearer than in its national retrofitting plan. That plan is unfair and regressive. This week Irish Rural Link joined a long list of organisations, including St. Vincent de Paul, Social Justice Ireland, Friends of the Earth, the Irish Heart Foundation, and Sinn Féin, that have highlighted the need for a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: ..., which is appropriate, but it is a really important piece of infrastructure for safety reasons. I welcome the funding and commend those who have campaigned in relation to the project for so long. I merely make that point. The Minister references that he has instructed the Department to reassess policy pathways. A significant part of what we are here to do is to look at progress, but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Large-scale Capital Projects: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: I thank Mr. Walsh for that. He does not know how long it will take An Bord Pleanála to decide whether there will be an oral hearing but, in terms of the planning process, how long do projects generally take? He referenced that in his opening statement.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: General Oversight of EirGrid: Discussion (30 Jan 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: On average, for how long do they wait for the grid connection offers from EirGrid in the cases of wind and solar, for example?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: General Oversight of EirGrid: Discussion (30 Jan 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: It is a straightforward question. How long does it take for an ECP offer? How long does it take EirGrid to process the applications?

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Wind Energy Generation (6 Dec 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: This report is appropriately entitled Act Now. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, is at COP28, engaging in diplomatic efforts on climate change but there is a long way to go there, as we can see from the strength of the fossil fuel lobby. At home, the path is very clear on renewables, albeit not so much in other areas. It is very clear that we have the tools, the know how and the ability to...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Wind Energy Generation (6 Dec 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...Government is further away from our renewable energy targets this year than last year. There is a serious problem with planning. No onshore projects have come out of the planning process for a long while. There are clear proposals here and I encourage the Government to look at them. There are positive proposals in the report, some of which are in line with what is intended and others...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (7A): “(7B) The transmission system operator and distribution system operator shall be entitled to refuse connection on the grounds of long-term Green Houses Gas emissions or inconsistency with the carbon budget programme or sectoral emissions ceilings as made under the Climate (Amendment) Act 2021.”,”.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Transport Authority: Chairperson Designate (6 Dec 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...These may or may not be unique to Ireland. In the city of Galway, 70% commute to work by car. That is a big urban centre so there is something happening there. I will note a couple of things. Along with the climate crisis, the issue of equity in access to public transport is also fundamental. I hope we are getting our heads around that. What is Mr. Strachan's perspective on the...

Planning and Development Bill 2023: Second Stage (30 Nov 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...As a result, many renewables projects never come to fruition because they simply time-out of their contracts. This is not good enough. Our planning system needs root and branch reform. This Bill is long overdue. However, in its current form, it falls far short of addressing the systemic problems in Ireland's beleaguered planning system. I acknowledge that some aspects of the Bill...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Services in Counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow: Discussion (29 Nov 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...media forums were alive with discussion of the issue. How did we end up in that situation? Corrective actions seem to have taken two and a half weeks or three weeks to implement. Why did it take so long? If the problem is a shortage of mechanics, where are we in that regard? What are the numbers? How short of mechanics is Bus Éireann? What is the pipeline? On a related issue...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Services in Counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow: Discussion (29 Nov 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: How long does it take to train them?

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (15 Nov 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: We have been a long time waiting for this legislation. When I saw this Bill in our office this week, I presumed it was the legislation relating to energy credits. I find it amazing that we are still dealing with this Bill, but we are, and with these amendments back from the Seanad. It must be a month at this stage since we dealt with this Bill here previously. It must be borne in mind...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Public Transport (9 Nov 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...Kells and Dunshaughlin. There was outrage and outcry from the public and from the representatives and I am glad to say there has been some welcome improvement in recent days, although we are a long way off perfection. The mid-term was a help. Bus Éireann has commissioned private capacity to fill some of the gaps and there has been some internal outsourcing from the Broadstone depot...

Energy Charter Treaty: Statements (9 Nov 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...Senator Boylan who has done a significant amount of work on the Energy Charter Treaty, including a master's thesis, which very much informs our party policy and these statements. For a long time we have been advocates of withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty. It is a relic of a fossil fuel past. Negotiated in the early 1990s after the Cold War, this international agreement...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Covid-19 Pandemic (18 Oct 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: ...an audiovisual room event and for the submission of the Topical Issue. It is very important and timely. The points have been made already. When I speak to constituents who are living with long Covid and their families, neighbours and friends the issues raised are the lack of public awareness, completely inefficient HSE services, clinical pathways, services and supports for children, a...

Financial Resolutions 2023 - Financial Resolution No. 1: Mineral Oil Tax (10 Oct 2023)

Darren O'Rourke: I support the Sinn Féin amendment. This hike in carbon tax is a deeply regressive move. The Government has played with words and spun very significantly about the carbon tax for far too long. We need to state clearly that it is just the increases and not all of the carbon taxes that are ring-fenced. Therefore, a very significant amount of carbon tax that is raised goes into the...

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

Darren O'Rourke: ...Fine Gael seemed to have missed this point. We do not even have a full picture of the scale of the problem and the range of policy options available to address it. The Government has been promising to publish the long-awaited and much-delayed security of supply review in the next few weeks for more than six months. The McCarthy report, conspicuously, is also yet to be published. The...