Results 581-600 of 5,766 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte in 'Written Answers'

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Services Provision (29 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The broadband service under National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is a basic, affordable, scalable product in keeping with EU State Aid clearance for the Scheme in September 2007. Under the terms of the contract with Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd (trading as “3”), which is overseen by my Department, the NBS mobile wireless service currently offers minimum download and upload speeds of...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Consultancy Contracts Data (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The tender notices which the Deputy is requesting are in the public domain and available on the following websites and . I have no direct role or responsibility in relation to tender processes or contracts awarded by a commercial semi-State company. The Chair of Bord Gáis Eireann, in compliance with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, confirms on an annual basis...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Bodies Board Remuneration (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: My Department has, in all instances, brought to the attention of each body the policy initiatives of the Department of Public Expenditure in relation to the payment of Board fees, and the payment of board members’ expenses is an operational matter for each State body. Details of fees paid are set out in the Annual Reports of Ordnance Survey Ireland. This Government has made changes...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Online Business Voucher Scheme (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The latest indicative figures available from the CSO in their Enterprise & Information Society statistics suggest that less than 1 in 5 Irish businesses are trading online. The National Digital Strategy which was published last year aims to address this challenge, by encouraging more Irish businesses to trade online. The Government provided funding in Budget 2013 for the...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Action Plan for Jobs (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Energy Efficiency is an established services sector in Ireland, one that is labour intensive and represents a great opportunity for business and the public sector to reduce costs, improve competitiveness and thereby protect and support jobs. The potential of energy efficiency in terms of the delivery of jobs is underscored by the inclusion of the objective of transforming Ireland into one of...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Commission for Energy Regulation Staff (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The position of Chairperson of ComReg is currently held by a Principal Officer on secondment from my Department for the duration of his tenure with the Commission. The appointment was made following a public competition. His pensionable pay continues to be based on his salary in his substantive grade of Principal Officer and is subject to pay adjustments during the period of secondment in...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: National Internship Scheme Data (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: My Department has no offices in County Louth and therefore, no JobBridge interns were taken on by my Department in that county within the time specified.

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Semi-State Bodies Expenditure (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Payments by Bord Gáis Éireann to third parties are operational matters for the company and not matters in which I, as Minister, have a role or function. However, I have requested Bord Gáis Éireann to contact the Deputy directly on this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: National Broadband Plan Implementation (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: I propose to take Questions Nos. 464 and 465 together. Ireland’s telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The market has since developed into a well-regulated market, supporting a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. Details of...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Better Energy Homes Scheme Administration (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Better Energy Warmer Homes scheme is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland under the Better Energy Programme. The energy efficiency upgrades provided by this scheme are delivered free of charge to the customer and the scheme is in very high demand, supported by a limited Exchequer budget that must be allocated where the need is greatest. Homes constructed after...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: National Broadband Plan Implementation (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The broadband service under the National Broadband Scheme, NBS, is a basic, affordable, scalable product in keeping with EU State aid clearance for the scheme in September 2007. Under the terms of the contract with Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd (trading as “3”), which is overseen by my Department, the NBS mobile wireless service currently offers minimum download and upload speeds of...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Research and Development Funding (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: Tidal and wave energy technologies are commonly referred to under the term ocean energy. Through its Ocean Energy Programme the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has conducted wave and tidal resource studies to examine the energy yield from these technologies at their current stage of development. The largest accessible tidal resource occurs around the Antrim coast while the...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Electricity Network Issues (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Gate process has been designed by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) specifically to meet Ireland’s national renewable target of 40% of electricity supplied from renewable sources by 2020. The Gate 3 offer and acceptance process concluded late last year, except for a small number of offers which remain live. The CER is currently commencing the process of reviewing the...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Renewable Energy Generation Issues (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The work of the ESRI in 2011 informed the design of REFIT 2, which was launched in 2012. REFIT 2 is designed to accommodate new renewable generation built from the start of 2010 to the end of 2017 and its aim is to ensure sufficient new renewable electricity is built to make a significant contribution to our legally binding EU renewable target for 2020. The maximum capacity that can be...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Television Licence Fee Collection (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The sale of TV licences and the associated inspection process is an operational matter for An Post as the Minister's statutorily-appointed agent under the Broadcasting Act 2009. There is no provision for the type of review suggested by the Deputy and, as such, I do not consider it appropriate for me to intervene in this matter. That said, however, I have asked my officials to bring the...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Semi-State Bodies Remuneration (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The information sought by the Deputy regarding payments to staff by commercial semi-State companies is an operational matter for each company. My Department works within the guidelines set out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in relation to remuneration levels of Chief Executive Officers in the State Bodies under the aegis of my Department. However, the structure of...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Bodies (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The information sought on the Department's audit committee is set out in the following table. Name Date of Appointment Fees paid in 2013 Walter Johnston 24th August 2011 Nil Ciaran O hObain 17th August 2011 Nil Shauna Greely 26th November 2012 €1,697 Brian Carroll 12th December 2012 Nil While members are not required to hold professional qualifications, they are appointed based...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: EU Regulations (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: In its role as manager of the national radio frequency spectrum, the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, has not to date requested the invocation of regulation 17 (6) of the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Framework) Regulations 2011 nor have I had cause myself to define general interest objectives as specified in the provision.

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Rural Broadband Scheme (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Rural Broadband Scheme, RBS, was launched in recognition of the fact that despite the widespread availability of broadband throughout Ireland, there still remained individual premises that were unable to receive broadband provision. This Scheme was aimed at making a basic broadband service available to un-served premises in rural areas, not already covered by the National Broadband...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: National Broadband Plan Implementation (28 Jan 2014)

Pat Rabbitte: The Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published in August 2012, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses. This will be achieved by providing: - a policy and regulatory framework that assists in accelerating and incentivising commercial investment, and - a State-led...