Results 81-100 of 6,223 for speaker:Alan Dillon

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Conservation (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: The Government and our Department are fully committed to making homes warmer, reducing energy bills and cutting emissions. We will do this through the retrofitting and heat pump initiatives set out in the climate action plan and delivered via the national retrofit plan, which is built on the four key pillars of demand, supply, financing and governance. Since 2019 we have made significant...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Conservation (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: Budget 2026 has provided increased funding. That demonstrates the level of intent in regard to a €89 million increase and we do expect additional European funding through the ERDF. This funding is very much needed now to make homes warmer, healthier and cheaper to heat. We are also matching that funding with capacity. We are enhancing the grants. We know we need to simplify the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Conservation (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: Again, we are in the process of simplifying the application process. We understand we need to do more to drive down wait times. We want to continue to deliver deeper, more complex upgrades at an unprecedented scale. The target for next year is over 60,000 upgrades and we are very much looking at accelerating that further. We have looked at cost inflation around much deeper upgrades. They...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Regeneration Projects (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: I thank Senator Duffy for raising this important issue and for his constructive suggestions in regard to the living city initiative. I think everyone in both Houses shares the same ambition about bringing more vibrancy, sustainability and revitalisation to our urban centres to meet the housing needs of the future and support social and economic needs within our towns. The living city...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Regeneration Projects (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: I acknowledge and compliment Senator Duffy in regard to this important debate. It will present an opportunity when the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, appears before the Seanad. We support all the ambitions to tackle the scourge of dereliction and vacancy. While I understand the call to include more towns outside the specific growth areas contained within the national planning framework, at...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: I sincerely thank Senator Fitzpatrick for raising this important issue and for the opportunity to provide an update on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who is, unfortunately, abroad at the G20 forum. The Government shares Senator Fitzpatrick's commitment to improving disability services and ensuring individuals with severe acquired brain injuries receive both the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: I will certainly take back the Senator's frustration in regard to the response to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. As she said, it is very important to shine a light on where the phase 1 review is currently at. I will seek clarity in regard to that from the HSE capital planning expert group. We are all in agreement that we need to make more effort in regard to the promotion of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Facilities (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: On behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank Senator Conway for the opportunity to address the House on the funding of maternity services in the mid-west. I know how passionate he is about the delivery of high-quality services for the people he represents in County Clare and the wider mid-west region. The National Maternity Strategy 2016-2026 has delivered significant developments in...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Facilities (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: I again thank the Senator for raising this important issue. The Government is committed to implementing the national maternity strategy and, in doing so, improving services for the mid-west region. As the Senator said, this includes the colocation of Limerick's maternity hospital with UHL. That project is at an early stage of planning and will progress through the infrastructural...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: Collation and reporting of waste data in the EU is done on the basis of the European Waste Catalogue (EWC), sometimes referred to as the List of Waste (LoW). This is a hierarchical list of waste descriptions established by Commission Decision 2000/532/EC which assigns individual wastes a six-figure identification code. Hazardous wastes are signified by entries where the code is followed...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: Legislative powers are in place, through the Circular Economy Act 2022, to implement environmental levies on a range of single use products including single-use cups, single-use containers and other forms of single-use packaging. In 2022, the Department commissioned a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) on the introduction of a levy on single use cups and a public consultation on draft...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy (WAPCE) sets out an overall policy and regulatory approach to support the development of adequate and appropriate treatment capacity at indigenous facilities to ensure that the full circularity and resource potential of materials is captured in Ireland. The Regional Waste Management Planning Offices launched a new National Waste Management Plan...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: The remediation of legacy landfills is a statutory responsibility of local authorities under the Waste Management Act. The roadmap for delivery of the landfill remediation programme is set out in the local government’s National Waste Management Plan 2024-2030. Over the last two decades, the department has been administering a grant scheme to support local government in delivering...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Recycling Policy (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: The Deposit Return Scheme was established to run primarily on a return-to-retail model, where consumers bring empty containers back to a retailer to recoup their deposit. There are currently over 3,700 retail return points, about 75% of which are Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs), providing a high level of coverage across the country. To date, just over 2 billion containers have been returned...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Recycling Policy (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: Repak operates as the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Scheme for packaging in Ireland under a Ministerial approval that expires at the end of 2025. An application for renewal of that approval has been received and is under consideration within the Department. The challenges that Ireland faces in relation to packaging recycling targets for 2025, highlighted by the Environmental...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Illegal Dumping (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: PURE is a regional environmental partnership initiative which unites statutory and non-statutory interests in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands, including relevant local authorities, Coillte, National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Wicklow Uplands Council to combat the problem of fly-tipping and small-scale illegal dumping in the scenic area encompassed by the Wicklow and Dublin...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Recycling Policy (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: To date Ireland has been successful in achieving the various municipal waste recycling targets set at a European level, but it is acknowledged that achieving the targets set for 2025 and beyond will be challenging. The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy (WAPCE), Ireland’s National Waste Policy for the period 2020 to 2025, sets out an overall policy and regulatory approach to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Recycling Policy (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: To date Ireland has been successful in achieving the various municipal waste recycling targets set at a European level, but it is acknowledged that achieving the targets set for 2025 and beyond will be challenging. The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy (WAPCE) sets out an overall policy and regulatory approach to support the development of adequate and appropriate treatment...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Recycling Policy (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: Re-turn is responsible for all operational and funding matters relating to DRS and while I have no function in the day-to-day business operations, officials from the Department monitor performance of the scheme closely and meet with Re-turn monthly to review progress on the scheme and to consider statistical updates. In addition, quarterly meetings are held to discuss strategic priorities and...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Recycling Policy (6 Nov 2025)

Alan Dillon: Currently, there is a balance of €7m in the Circular Economy Fund which will form part of the Fund’s opening balance for 2026. The balance in the Fund reflects higher than anticipated income, arising from recent regulatory changes that saw the phasing out of levy exemptions for the largest waste stream in Ireland – construction and demolition waste. These additional...