P J Sheehan (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 13: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the outcomes from his recent visit to the United States; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23129/07]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I travelled to the United States from 24-27 July last to make contacts and garner information on best policy practice in the area of telecommunications and energy, including energy sustainability.

I used the opportunity to also visit a number of Irish community centres in the Bronx and Yonkers to speak to the 'undocumented Irish' and reported their situation to Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern.

Amongst the meetings in New York, I met Ms. Christine Quinn, the Speaker of the New York City Council, Mr. Marty Mack from the New York Governor's Office and Mr. Rohit Aggarwala from the Mayor's Long-Term Planning and Sustainability Office to discuss Mayor Bloomberg's plans for a greener New York. It was agreed that my Department would be in further contact with the Mayor's office on the issue of sustainable cities and that we would institute an 'Exchange of Officials' programme to progress this initial link-up.

In Washington, I met with the European-American Business Council. This group comprises many large companies engaged in transatlantic business. The main purpose of this meeting was to portray Ireland as an excellent location for further expansion of these companies, particularly in the growing energy and telecommunications sectors.

On Capitol Hill, I met with Congressman Edward Markey who is Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. We agreed on further cooperation between both our offices to maximise our efforts on energy investment and efficiency.

In the telecoms area I met with Brian Thompson, a former member of the telecom advisory council who advised the Irish government on previous telecoms developments. I had a meeting with Mr. Richard Beaird of the State Department which focused on current issues in the telecommunications sector, including international broadband statistics, net neutrality and cyber security issues. I also met with Mr. John Kneuer of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and we discussed current US policy on wireline, broadcasting and Next Generation Networks.

I also met with US Energy Secretary Mr. Sam Bodman to discuss US plans for negotiating a successor agreement to Kyoto in 2012.

I met with both Bob Nordhaus of the Van Ness Institute who specialises in federal electric, gas and environmental regulation and the John Podesta Centre for American Progress.

Both of these meetings, and indeed my entire visit, advanced the expressed purpose of my visit: namely, to learn from the experience of the United States in the areas under my portfolio and to strengthen ties between Ireland and the US in both directions on the issues of energy and telecommunications development.