Results 141-160 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Ministerial Staff (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The information requested by the Deputy is as follows: one Special Advisor to the Minister is employed with a Gross Salary of €91,624 and another Special Advisor to the Minister is employed with a Gross Salary of €82,587. Special Adviser appointments are undertaken in accordance with the Instructions on Ministerial Appointments for the 31st Dáil (July 2014) and the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Legislative Process RIA (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: Since March 2011, there have been eight Bills published by my Department of which seven Bills have been brought through to completion. My Department undertakes Regulatory Impact Assessments in accordance with the procedures set out in the RIA Guidelines published by the Department of the Taoiseach. The following is a list of the eight Bills which have been published to date: - The...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Emergency Call Answering Service (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) responds to all calls to 112/999 in the State in under one second. Having identified the nature of the emergency and the location, calls are connected to the correct Emergency Service, on average, in under 6.5 seconds. The remaining calls are filtered and not forwarded to the Emergency Services. The majority of filtered calls occur where the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Schemes (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Better Energy Homes and Better Energy Warmer Homes schemes are administered on behalf of my Department by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) under the Better Energy Programme. The Better Energy Homes scheme provides grant aid to private homeowners who wish to improve the energy performance of their home. Fixed grants are provided towards the cost of a range of measures...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Appointments to State Boards (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: There have been 175 appointments to State Boards under the aegis of my Department in the period 7 March 2011 to 30 November 2015. Of these appointments, 25 were from among individuals who submitted expressions of interest following an advertisement on my Department's website. A further 9 appointees applied under the revised arrangements set out in the Guidelines on Appointments to State...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Appointments to State Boards (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: There have been 17 appointments to the position of Chairperson to State boards under the aegis of my Department since March 2011. Of these, 9 have appeared before the relevant Joint Oireachtas Committee in line with current Government policy on the appointment of Chairpersons to State Boards. It should be noted that a number of the appointments were reappointments and therefore an appearance...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Commencement of Legislation (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: There is one Act for which all sections have yet to be formally commenced by my Department. The details are set out in the following table. Title of Act Parts/Sections not yet commenced Purpose of sections Petroleum (Exploration and Extraction) Safety Act, 2015 All sections To confer on the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) the additional functions with respect to petroleum safety...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Postal Services (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong and viable company, in a position to provide a high quality postal service and maintain a nationwide network of customer focused post offices in the community. The post office network plays an important role in serving the needs of business and domestic customers alike. However, the postal sector is undergoing systemic change, with...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. On 29 September 2015, the Government agreed and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The National Broadband Plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Renewable Energy Generation (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our overall energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020, to be achieved through 40% renewables in electricity, 12% in heat and 10% in transport. In 2014, 8.6% of Ireland’s overall energy requirements were met from renewable sources. To date wind energy has proved to be the most...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Commission for Energy Regulation (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) is Ireland’s independent energy regulator and has a wide range of economic, customer protection and safety responsibilities. While it is entirely independent in the execution of its statutory duties, I am satisfied that it carries them out to the highest standard. As I have said in the White Paper on energy policy which I published yesterday,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Wind Energy Generation (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: My Department has been working with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, EirGrid and the Commission for Energy Regulation, to assess the costs and value of choosing the path towards 40% renewable electricity generation in 2020. It is expected that the majority of this 40% target will be met by wind energy. Quantifying the costs and benefits of meeting our renewable energy obligations...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Electricity Transmission Network (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: An Independent Expert Panel considering EirGrid's Grid West and Grid Link projects was appointed on foot of a Government decision in January 2014. On foot of a request by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the Independent Expert Panel agreed to provide an opinion on the compatibility of the methodologies to be employed on the Grid West and Grid Link projects with...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Departmental Functions (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The structure of Government departments and the allocation of functions is determined by the Taoiseach and Government. Clearly both departments collaborate closely on a bilateral basis on areas of mutual interest, for example climate change, as well as on other issues using the range of cross departmental structures in place.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Broadband Service Provision (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. In July last I published a detailed draft...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Living Wage (17 Dec 2015)

Alex White: My Department currently has 10 staff members who earn less than €11.50 gross per hour. The cost to my Department of introducing a minimum wage of €11.50 would be in the region of €42,000 per annum. The salaries paid to employees of the bodies under the aegis of my Department are generally matters for those bodies.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Renewable Energy Generation Targets (16 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The 2009 Renewable Energy Directive sets all Member States a binding target that at least 10% of the energy used in the transport sector must come from renewable sources by 2020. Ireland aims to meet this target mainly through the increased use of sustainable biofuels with electric vehicles also making a small contribution. The Biofuels Obligation Scheme was introduced in July 2010 as the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Rural Broadband Scheme (16 Dec 2015)

Alex White: I refer the Deputy to my response to Question No. 597 of 15 December 2015. The National Broadband Scheme (NBS) expired on 25 August 2014, in line with State aid clearance for the Scheme. Subsequent to its expiry, the specified NBS broadband service is no longer being provided by "3" in its capacity as the NBS service provider. I have no role in relation to the provision of retail services...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Mining Industry (16 Dec 2015)

Alex White: The Minerals Development Act 1979, vested in the Minister the exclusive right of working minerals in the State save for “excepted minerals”. The Mining Board is a Statutory Body established pursuant to Section 33 (1) of the Minerals Development Act 1940 and is independent in the exercise of its functions. Therefore, neither I as Minister nor my Department have any function in...