7 Beal 2014, 14:23
The European Union’s energy policy will be considered by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications at a meeting tomorrow with a senior EU official.
7 May 2014
Eric Mamer, Deputy Head of Cabinet at the Office of the European Commissioner for Energy, will address the Committee on the EU's 2030 energy targets and the challenges that lie ahead. The meeting forms part of a series of events to mark Europe Week 2014 in the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Chairman of the Committee John O’Mahony TD says: “Our Committee has an important role in EU scrutiny and tomorrow’s engagement with Mr Mamer tomorrow provides a valuable opportunity for us to assess the challenges for European energy policy. Ireland and the European Union are making solid progress to reach the target getting 20 percent of our energy from renewables by 2020. Mr Mamer will have an opportunity to outline the EU’s integrated policy framework for energy up to 2030, which includes even more ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gases by 40 percent.
“When this Committee met with Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger in 2012, he pointed to the imperative for greater investment in infrastructure, in order to ensure that the potential benefits of a true EU internal market for energy are realised. He also referred to the important partnership role that National Parliaments have, along with the Commission and Member State governments, in forging a sustainable and clean supply of energy for Europe. With relatively little experience in Europe of hydraulic fracturing, the Committee will be keen to assess with Mr Mamer the current approach of the EU on this contentious issue.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow Thursday 8 May at 12 noon in Committee Room 3, LH 2000. Public proceedings can be viewed online here.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
ENDS
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee on Transport and Communications
Deputies: John O’Mahony (Chair), Paudie Coffey (Vice-Chair), Michael Colreavy, Timmy Dooley, Dessie Ellis, Tom Fleming, Brendan Griffin, Noel Harrington, Seán Kenny, Éamonn Maloney, Helen McEntee, Michael Moynihan, Patrick O’Donovan, Ann Phelan and Mick Wallace
Senators: Sean D. Barrett, Terry Brennan, Éamonn Coghlan, Paschal Mooney, Ned O’Sullivan and John Whelan