Northern Ireland Political Monitoring Report
Utility Regulator Northern Ireland
13 July 2018
2016
IN THE NEWS ↗ Ireland set to be first country to end investment in fossil fuels [BBC News] NI Water used wrong law to implement hosepipe ban and is threatening criminal records for nonexistent ‘crimes’ [The News Letter] Underwater Pembrokeshire-Ireland cable ‘for cheaper energy’ [BBC News]
BREXIT TALKS ↗ Theresa May wins agreement for new UK Brexit offer [Politico EU] Dominic Raab replaces David Davis as Brexit secretary [BBC News] Cabinet deal provokes backlash among Brexiteers [Politics Home] PM says White Paper delivers ‘the Brexit people voted for’ [BBC News] Trump: Brexit plan ‘will probably kill’ US trade deal [BBC News]
NI EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES ↗ DoF Annual Report and Accounts [Department for Finance] DAERA urges businesses, farmers and councils to use water wisely [Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs]
UK GOVERNMENT ↗ Oil and gas: environmental alerts and incident reporting including anonymous reporting [Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy] Policy paper: The future relationship between the UK and the EU [UK Government] Jeremy Hunt named new Foreign Secretary after Boris Johnson quits [Politics Home]
UK PARLIAMENT ↗ Northern Ireland Budget (No.2) Bill: Commons stages [House of Commons] Statement: exiting the EU: 9 July 2018 [House of Commons]
UK PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES ↗ No relevant business
IRISH GOVERNMENT↗ No relevant business
OIREACHTAS ↗ No relevant business
NI POLITICAL PARTIES ↗ ‘Ireland will not be collateral damage in Tory civil war’ – McDonald [Sinn Féin] Eastwood welcomes Máiría Cahill to SDLP Council team [SDLP] Mallon: SoS must not waste public money challenging the recent Hightown Incinerator ruling [SDLP] Prime Minister pandering to blinkered DUP approach on Brexit backstop risks agreement, says Farry [Alliance] Nicholson-Barnier must heed call for greater Brexit flexibility [UUP]
UK POLITICAL PARTIES ↗ No relevant business
SCOTLAND AND WALES ↗ Tankers used to keep Scotland’s water flowing this summer [Scottish Water] Welsh Water urges customers to use water wisely [Welsh Water]
Hyperlink Colour Key: External Return to top
IRELAND ↗ EPA supports Europe-wide Pollutant Release and Transfer Register by publishing latest releases from industrial activities [EPA]
STAKEHOLDER NEWS ↗ No relevant business
EUROPE ↗ EU budget for 2019: Council agrees its position [European Council] Cooling, Europe’s unheralded energy challenge [Euractiv]
ANSWERS TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS ↗ Wind Power: Seas and Oceans
If you require further information or research support please contact our monitoring & research team at [email protected]. For consultancy services please contact [email protected]. IN THE NEWS ↗ Ireland set to be first country to end investment in fossil fuels [BBC News] Ireland is set become the first country to stop public investments in fossil fuels. The Fossil Fuel Divestment bill was passed by the Dáil Éireann, on Thursday. The bill is expected to pass relatively quickly through the Seanad and will force the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to end any investments in non-renewable energy in five years. (BBC News 12/07/18) NI Water used wrong law to implement hosepipe ban and is threatening criminal records for nonexistent ‘crimes’ [The News Letter] The hosepipe ban introduced last week by NI Water does not have legal authority. NI Water claimed to have far reaching powers to impose a ban under GB legislation which doesn’t apply to Northern Ireland. Legislation in Northern Ireland only allows for a ban on two activities: watering a garden and washing a private car. (News Letter 11/07/18) Underwater Pembrokeshire-Ireland cable ‘for cheaper energy’ [BBC News] A 125-mile long electricity cable could be installed under the sea between Pembrokeshire and County Wexford in the Republic of Ireland. The Greenlink Interconnector is designed to share energy between the National Grid and its Irish equivalent. Planners claim is could help reduce electricity costs on both sides of the sea. (BBC News 13/07/18)
BREXIT TALKS ↗ Theresa May wins agreement for new UK Brexit offer [Politico EU] The PM announced the Cabinet had formally endorsed her plan for a new “U.K.-EU free trade area” and closely intertwined customs relationship with Brussels.
Dominic Raab replaces David Davis as Brexit secretary [BBC News] Mr Raab, who is currently housing minister, was a prominent Leave campaigner during the 2016 referendum. Mr Davis quit late on Sunday night, saying Theresa May had "given away too much too easily". Raab will now take over day to day negotiations with the European Commission. Click here for a link to our biography. Cabinet deal provokes backlash among Brexiteers [Politics Home] Theresa May’s Cabinet deal has provoked a backlash among several high profile Brexiteers, including backbench Conservative Eurosceptics. Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns, who resigned her position as a junior minister to “fight for Brexit”, said that the deal would be damaging to the UK. PM says White Paper delivers ‘the Brexit people voted for’ [BBC News] The government has published its blue print for UK relations with the EU. The long-awaited White Paper is aimed at ensuring trade co-operation, with no hard border for Northern Ireland, and global trade deals for the UK. Trump: Brexit plan ‘will probably kill’ US trade deal [BBC News] Donald Trump has said the UK will “probably not” get a trade deal with the US, If the prime minister’s Brexit plan goes ahead. He said the PM’s plan would “probably kill the deal” as it would mean the US “would be dealing with the EU” instead of the UK. Downing Street has not responded to President Trump’s remarks.
NI EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES ↗ DoF Annual Report and Accounts [Department for Finance] The Department for Finance has released their annual reports to show their departments financial performance and the work carried out by their department in this financial year.
DAERA urges businesses, farmers and councils to use water wisely [Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs] With the current spell of warm and dry weather continuing, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has urged businesses, councils and farmers to use water wisely and be aware of regulations for drawing water from source.
If you require further information or research support please contact our monitoring & research team at [email protected]. For consultancy services please contact [email protected].
UK GOVERNMENT ↗ Oil and gas: environmental alerts and incident reporting including anonymous reporting [Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy] The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published documents on how to report environmental incidents, including pro-formas for PON1 and PON2. Policy paper: The future relationship between the UK and the EU [UK Government] On Thursday, the government published its long-awaited Brexit White Paper. The document is 104 pages long and follows last week’s Chequers agreement which set out the sort of relationship the UK wants with the EU after Brexit. It is split into four chapters: economic partnership, security, cooperation and institutional arrangements. Jeremy Hunt named new Foreign Secretary after Boris Johnson quits [Politics Home] The former Health Secretary was appointed to the role tonight as part of a mini reshuffle sparked by a string of resignations over Brexit. Matt Hancock took over at the Department of Health while Jeremy Wright became Culture Secretary.
UK PARLIAMENT ↗ Northern Ireland Budget (No.2) Bill: Commons stages [House of Commons] The Northern Ireland Budget (No.2) Bill passed all its stages in the House of Commons on Monday 9 July 2018. The purpose of this bill is to allow Northern Ireland departments to access their full budget and to make any changes in spending that have been required since the Budget was passed. The Bill now goes to the House of Lords. Statement: exiting the EU: 9 July 2018 [House of Commons] On Monday, the Prime Minister made a statement on her proposed new model for Brexit which was agreed at Chequers last Friday. The deal includes shared customs rules on goods but not services, movement towards a single customs territory and new system for controlling migrants coming to the UK through the EU. This agreement has triggered the resignation of Boris Johnston as Foreign Secretary and David Davis as Brexit Secretary.
UK PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES ↗ No relevant business
IRISH GOVERNMENT↗ No relevant business
OIREACHTAS ↗ No relevant business
If you require further information or research support please contact our monitoring & research team at [email protected]. For consultancy services please contact [email protected].
NI POLITICAL PARTIES ↗ ‘Ireland will not be collateral damage in Tory civil war’ – McDonald [Sinn Féin] Sinn Féin President Mary-Lou McDonald has said that the disruption in the cabinet this week risked causing a no deal Brexit by accident and said the back stop agreement must be protected to ensure Northern Ireland does not suffer as a result of this. Eastwood welcomes Máiría Cahill to SDLP Council team [SDLP] SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood MLA said he is delighted former Labour Senator Máiría Cahill has been co-opted onto Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council to represent the Killultagh DEA. Mallon: SoS must not waste public money challenging the recent Hightown Incinerator ruling [SDLP] SDLP Deputy Leader Nichola Mallon MLA has said any further attempt to legally challenge the courts decision on the Hightown Incinerator ruling would be a waste of money and said “The Secretary of State’s time would be better spent using all of her energy to see the restoration of devolved government here.” Prime Minister pandering to blinkered DUP approach on Brexit backstop risks agreement, says Farry [Alliance] Alliance Brexit spokesperson Stephen Farry MLA has said the Prime Ministers current Brexit plan is contradictory and that she needs to show greater leadership against the DUP. Nicholson-Barnier must heed call for greater Brexit flexibility [UUP] UUP MEP Jim Nicholson has welcomed comments from Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar which called for more flexibility from the EU on its red lines.
UK POLITICAL PARTIES ↗ No relevant business
SCOTLAND AND WALES ↗ Tankers used to keep Scotland’s water flowing this summer [Scottish Water] Up to 30 water tankers a day are currently being deployed across Scotland in a round-the-clock operation to keep the country’s supplies flowing. Tankers are adding water to the parts of the network were usage is particularly high, notably in areas which have been hottest and driest. Welsh Water urges customers to use water wisely [Welsh Water] The company has ramped up efforts to find and fix leaks on its network. It is also putting in around 1 billion litres of water (a 20% increase) into the network every day, to make sure customers’ supply is kept as normal during the hotter weather.
IRELAND ↗ EPA supports Europe-wide Pollutant Release and Transfer Register by publishing latest releases from industrial activities [EPA] The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published environmental data on Ireland’s national pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR). This is a public register of pollutant releases and waste transfers from large industrial activities in Ireland.
If you require further information or research support please contact our monitoring & research team at [email protected]. For consultancy services please contact [email protected].
STAKEHOLDER NEWS ↗ No relevant business
EUROPE ↗ EU budget for 2019: Council agrees its position [European Council] On Wednesday, EU ambassadors agreed the Council’s position on the 2019 EU draft budget in advance of negotiations with the European Parliament. The Council wants to see increased support for key EU programmes in the areas of research, innovation, youth exchanges and targeted infrastructure investments. Cooling, Europe’s unheralded energy challenge [Euractiv] Heating and cooling takes up half of the EU’s energy consumption, but cooling is set to become even more important due to the changing climate and economic situation, with worldwide demand for air conditioning expected to triple over the next 30 years.
ANSWERS TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS ↗ Wind Power: Seas and Oceans Thangam Debbonaire (Lab, Bristol West) asked the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on support for the UK offshore wind industry’s ambition to produce one third of UK electricity from offshore wind by 2030; and if he will make a statement.
Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
The UK has the largest installed offshore wind capacity in the world, with around 7GW operational. This will rise to around 10GW by 2020.
As set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, the Government is working with industry as they develop an ambitious Sector Deal for offshore wind, which could result in 10 gigawatts of new capacity, with the opportunity for additional deployment if this is cost effective, built in the 2020s.
If you require further information or research support please contact our monitoring & research team at [email protected]. For consultancy services please contact [email protected].