Written Answers Nos. 171-178
171. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the oil or gas fields that extend over more than one exploration authorisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31098/13]
View answerThe term “oil or gas field” is generally associated with a hydrocarbon prospect that has been declared commercial. As such there have been four gas field discoveries since exploration began offshore Ireland in the early 1970s, namely the Kinsale, Ballycotton and Seven Heads (Kinsale area) producing gas fields off the coast of Cork and the Corrib gas field off the coast of Mayo. The Kinsale and Ballycotton fields are subject to a single Petroleum Lease. The Corrib field and the Seven Heads field are each, respectively, subject to a Petroleum Lease. There have been no oil field discoveries to date.
172. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the use to which properties rented in the GPO by his Department are put; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31099/13]
View answerThe bulk of the GPO complex is occupied by An Post on foot of a licence agreement and is used as its headquarters. The remainder consists of the GPO Arcade which is leased to Arcade Property Company Limited, a company owned by An Post, which in turn are sublet as individual units for commercial retail activities. In addition a number of properties along Henry Street are held under individual leases and used for commercial retail activities.
173. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding Project Kelvin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31100/13]
View answerThe Kelvin direct international telecoms connectivity has been operational since August 2010, when the Kelvin network was completed. The Kelvin project is a joint North-South project with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and provides direct international telecoms connectivity between the North West of Ireland and the border regions and North America (New York) and Europe (Amsterdam). This was achieved by building a spur from the Hibernia North transatlantic telecoms cable, which runs off the coast of Northern Ireland and bringing it ashore at Portrush. A terrestrial fibre network was then used to connect the Kelvin connectivity from the North West of Ireland to 13 urban centres North and South, and onwards to Dublin.
The main benefits of the Kelvin connectivity are as follows:
- low cost international connectivity to the north west and Border regions, including guaranteed backhaul costs
- high speed (reduced latency) international connectivity using the Kelvin connectivity, which makes it attractive for business using real time applications
- high capacity circuits with an availability of up to 99.999% in any service month - state of the art industry standard
- improved resilience for Ireland’s overall international connectivity – the Kelvin network provides an alternative route for telecoms traffic out of Ireland via the north west using Kelvin for connectivity to the USA (New York) and Europe (Amsterdam) if required.
The Kelvin Project makes Ireland and the North West more attractive for foreign direct investment and for business in general, in particular for data intensive business, as telecoms connectivity is now an important factor in business investment decisions. The existence of the Kelvin network in the north west and Border area provides an opportunity for business interests in the region to avail of a state of the art international telecoms link to conduct business with international markets. The IDA also uses the benefits of the transatlantic link provided by Project Kelvin to promote the north west and Border region as an attractive and viable location for new inward investment opportunities, and to secure additional projects from existing international investors.
174. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the amount his Department spends on the Renewable Energy Information Office; the way this office differs from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31101/13]
View answerUp to early 2012, SEAI operated an outsourced service based in County Cork known as the Renewable Energy Information Office, REIO. The office delivered a range of information services including a contact centre for queries on renewable energy, organising training and awareness events and collating information resources for a range of stakeholders.
In order to achieve budgetary savings this renewable energy information function was moved in-house to SEAI in 2012. While the changeover has resulted in reduced activity in periodic publications and training events, SEAI retains a capacity to respond to renewable energy queries and is continually enhancing its online resources on renewable energy. The budget for this activity in 2013 is €0.050 million.
175. Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources further to Parliamentary Question No. 279 of 11 December 2012, if he will instruct Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the Loughs Agency to provide the information sought in relation to the salmon hardship scheme. [31134/13]
View answerAs stated in my earlier replies on this issue the information requested by the Deputy is not held in my Department. As advised in my reply to parliamentary Questions No. 279 of 11 December 2012 and No. 257 of 7 May 2013, I have passed the Deputy’s question to An Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, which is under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and the Loughs Agency, requesting that they reply directly to the Deputy. I will again advise the bodies concerned of the interest of the Deputy in the matter and request that they reply directly to the Deputy.
176. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number of electric vehicles that have been purchased by consumers here in each of the past seven years. [31153/13]
View answer177. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the State's investment in electric vehicle infrastructure in the past seven years. [31154/13]
View answer178. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number of applications received and granted, by county, under the electric vehicles grant scheme, since January 2011. [31155/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 176 to 178, inclusive, together.
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, which operates the electric vehicle grant scheme has to date received a total of 356 electric vehicle grant applications. I understand that 250 grants have been paid to date and that a further two are awaiting payment. Some 257 electric vehicles have been registered in Ireland since 2011 when the grant scheme opened. A total of €1,053,200 has been paid in grants under the electric vehicle grant scheme up to the end of May 2013.
Details of the numbers of electric vehicles registered since 2010 are set out in the following table.
|
- |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
Totals |
|
Cork |
1 |
14 |
2 |
17 |
|
|
Clare |
2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
|
|
Cavan |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
Carlow |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
Dublin |
2 |
16 |
87 |
14 |
119 |
|
Donegal |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Galway |
4 |
6 |
0 |
10 |
|
|
Kildare |
1 |
11 |
1 |
13 |
|
|
Kilkenny |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
Kerry |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
|
|
Limerick City |
1 |
8 |
0 |
9 |
|
|
Longford |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
Louth |
0 |
12 |
1 |
13 |
|
|
County Limerick |
1 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
|
|
Leitrim |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Laois |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
Meath |
0 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
|
|
Monaghan |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Mayo |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
Offaly |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
Roscommon |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Sligo |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
Tipperary North |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
Tipperary South |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Waterford City |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
County Waterford |
2 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
|
|
Westmeath |
1 |
14 |
0 |
15 |
|
|
Wexford |
5 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
Wicklow |
5 |
11 |
0 |
16 |
|
|
2 |
46 |
188 |
23 |
259 |
The ESB, through its ecars programme, is continuing to roll out both publicly accessible charging infrastructure and domestic charge points, and has informed the Department that its targets are to install at least 1,000 publicly accessible charge points in all main towns and cities and 60 fast chargers on major roads by the end of 2013. As of 19 June 2013, there were 1,280 charge points installed nationally. I understand that the ESB has spent €9.3 million to date on this infrastructure.
