January 21, 2021 11:17 am
Funding of €1,764,000 has been announced for the Irish Environmental Network and its members in 2021, an increase of €704,000 on the level of funding provided in 2020.
The Irish Environmental Network is made up of over 30 environmental groups from around the country including An Taisce, BirdWatch Ireland, the Irish Wildlife Trust, VOICE and Friends of the Earth.
Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan said he is “very aware of the financial challenges the sector has faced”.
“These national environmental NGOs are active on a broad range of environmental issues, including wildlife conservation, biodiversity and climate change,” he said.
“I have worked closely with the members for many years and I have met them on a number of occasions since I became minister. I am very aware of the financial challenges the sector has faced over the last number of years and how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted on these organisati
January 15, 2021 1:19 pm
Former Minister for Agriculture Barry Cowen has called for ESB money to be put towards just transition funding in the midlands.
Cowen said he is urging Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan to use €5 million from the ESB for local groups, projects and organisations in the area in the form of just transition grants, to allow them move away from reliance on peat harvesting.
“The ESB monies of €5 million was always a contribution for the localities and regions to respond to the peat-fired power plant closures and accelerated decarbonisation,” Cowen said.
So that’s the money that should be used to match government grants, dispersed by the midlands regional just transition board. It’s a simple solution to the issue.
Special advisers to Government ministers earn over €4.5 million in salaries
The advisers’ pay ranges from €67,659 to €180,276, with 18 of them earning more than €100,000. By Ceimin Burke Friday 15 Jan 2021, 7:34 PM Jan 15th 2021, 7:34 PM 32,528 Views 90 Comments
Image: Julien Behal Photography via RollingNews.ie
Image: Julien Behal Photography via RollingNews.ie
THE GOVERNMENT HAS released details of a €4.5 million pay package earned by special advisers who counsel ministers and ministers of state.
The latest list of government special advisers published today shows the pay rates of 48 different media and policy advisers employed to provide advice to different ministers.
The combined yearly earnings of the advisers comes to a total bill of €4,508,405, however that figure doesn’t include the pay of Ala
January 14, 2021 12:39 pm
Sinn Féin has said it welcomes today’s (Thursday, January 14) news of the opening of a consultation on a new Microgeneration Support Scheme “with caution”.
Party spokesperson on climate justice Lynn Boylan has raised concerns of “unnecessary barriers blocking access to ordinary people”.
Individuals and communities are invited to submit views on the design of a Microgeneration Support Scheme, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan has announced today.
“Microgeneration has the potential to spread the benefits of the transition throughout society. That outcome is not automatically guaranteed, and devil is in the detail,” Senator Boylan said.
January 14, 2021 6:45 am
Farmers will receive a “fair price” for selling excess electricity they generate back into the grid, under a new scheme that is being developed.
Individuals and communities are invited to submit views on the design of a Microgeneration Support Scheme, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan has announced today (Thursday, January 14).
This scheme will allow farmers, citizens, business owners and community organisations to generate their own electricity, such as from solar panels on their roofs, and receive “a fair price when they sell the excess into the grid”.
The scheme design also seeks to establish the ‘renewables self-consumer’ model of energy generation and consumption in Ireland, to support community and citizen participation in the transition to a net-zero carbon economy and to contribute to achieving the 2030 targets for renewable energy.