Results 401-420 of 1,108,843 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Chris Andrews OR speaker:Denis Naughten OR speaker:Kieran O'Donnell OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Aindrias Moynihan OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Cian O'Callaghan OR speaker:Leo Varadkar OR speaker:Cormac Devlin OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Michael Creed OR speaker:Cathal Crowe OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Darren O'Rourke OR speaker:Pádraig O'Sullivan OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Patricia Ryan OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Paul Murphy) in 'Committee meetings'

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Grid (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: The key document here is our energy security paper from November last year, which looked at a whole range of different risks to energy security. That is the place where we say that the only facility we could or would introduce is one that is purely temporary, strategic and security oriented. In those circumstances, where the project is State-led, I believe conditions could be set as regards...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Grid (15 Oct 2024)

Paul Murphy: The Minister is saying that it could be ensured that fracked gas is not used in this so-called State-led LNG terminal. However, the Government's policy statement from May 2021 is clear. It is not possible for Ireland, under the European treaties or EU directives concerning common rules of the internal market in natural gas, to legislate for a ban on the import of fracked gas into Ireland or...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Grid (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I take the Deputy's point that LNG potentially has the same emissions as coal. We will not be increasing our importation of LNG gas. That is agreed. We are not going to breach our climate change targets through any of this. That is an absolute given. That will hold firm in any court, in any debate and in any government, whether a future government or this Government. With a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (15 Oct 2024)

Regulatory Bodies

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (15 Oct 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: 50. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide an update on preparations to regulate non-domestic gas works, with particular reference to timeframe, engagement with registered gas installers, training, legislation and standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41633/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (15 Oct 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: Will the Minister provide an update on preparations to regulate non-domestic gas works with particular reference to a timeframe, engagement with registered gas installers, training, legislation and standards? Will he make a statement on the matter?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: Under section 9F of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999, as amended, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities is responsible for the regulation of gas installers with respect to safety. I refer the Deputy to the CRU, as a statutorily independent regulator, for updates and timelines on this matter in the first instance. The CRU will shortly seek to introduce a statutory instrument to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (15 Oct 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: I have been in contact with the CRU and there has been some progress in this regard. This question was prompted by concerns among gas installers and the installer representative panel regarding the proposal that the non-domestic regime would be merged with the domestic regime without additional training, specific certification or competencies. There were concerns about safety. There were a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I am reassured by Deputy O'Rourke's comments that some of those concerns may have been addressed. This development has been under consideration for ten years, going right back to 2014 when it was first proposed. In the intervening years, the CRU has carried out a lot of consultation. I can understand why people would be concerned about the implications of any change in their industry but I...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (15 Oct 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: I absolutely agree. On the Minister's earlier point, for me and for the industry as a whole, it is about managing this transition and ensuring that standards and oversight are maintained. I will raise a point related to this. Many of these facilities are unregulated, including communal heating systems. I have one in my area. The Minister would have dealt with my colleague, Ruairí...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Imports (15 Oct 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: There seems to be a contradiction in the Minister's response in terms of considering alternatives to LNG and the amendments that were rushed through at the eleventh hour for the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2023 last week. Is the Minister of the view that LNG that does not have fracked gas can be introduced? It strikes me as very difficult to separate the two issues at all....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Imports (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I believe it is possible for us - if we require a facility - to set conditions in a State-led facility for security only, that it would only be non-fracked gas that would be held. That is possible as one of the conditions that a State-led facility might be set out. There is no Trojan horse here. People have completely misunderstood that amendment. It was purely technical in nature. It...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Imports (15 Oct 2024)

Darren O'Rourke: I am deeply concerned that if that is the Minister's assessment of the matter, it is entirely incorrect. Whoever steps in to Government buildings after the next election - particularly if it is Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael together - last week, driven through by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, we wrote into legislation what is essentially the formula to deliver LNG. That...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Imports (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: This has been a long, drawn-out process, because it is important to get it right. The original study started in 2021. We approached SEPA, a consultancy company which did a lot of detailed analysis to the end of this decade. Furthermore, when we had agreed our energy security paper, we commissioned GNI to look at various options such as onshore, offshore, gas caverns and so on. They came...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Grid (15 Oct 2024)

Natural Gas Grid

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Grid (15 Oct 2024)

Paul Murphy: 49. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will reverse his support for liquefied natural gas infrastructure in Ireland, in light of evidence that it is more polluting than coal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41621/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Grid (15 Oct 2024)

Paul Murphy: My question is on the same topic. I do not know if the Minister just takes everybody for a fool. Does he really expect people to believe that after the Government brings in amendments to designate LNG terminals as strategic infrastructure, which gets to bypass the normal planning process, it is a technical thing? This is in the context of many of the Green Party's coalition partners being...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Natural Gas Grid (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: There is no game here and nobody is being taken for a fool. Not only am I not naive, I have a record going back 30 years of absolute commitment to climate action in our country, particularly in the area of keeping fossil fuels in the ground. For decades, we have campaigned and worked in that area and nothing has changed in that regard. The Government position has not changed. The Deputy...

Disability Services: Motion [Private Members] (15 Oct 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I put it to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, that we really need to see that one-stop shop. It needs to get beyond words. We know what the huge issues are when we are talking about carers or those with disabilities and their wider families. We need to make sure there is a proper framework around them. I welcome to the Public Gallery Alexandra Jedrzejewska from All Abilities...

Disability Services: Motion [Private Members] (15 Oct 2024)

Pauline Tully: I welcome everybody in the Public Gallery and the disability activists who have joined us this evening for the two-hour debate. I also thank all colleagues who spoke in favour of this motion. I feel a little bit insulted by Deputy Sean Sherlock's suggestion that some of my colleagues who made short speeches did so only for social media. I would like him to know that every one of them would...