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DRAFT 2014 Annual Report

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DRAFT 2014 Annual Report ANNUAL REPORT 2014 An Irish version and English version of the Annual Report may be downloaded from www.dcenr.gov.ie Department’s Mission Statement To promote the development of communications and energy infrastructure and markets that contribute to sustainable economic development, to promote the development of the public and private broadcasting sectors, to harness our natural resources in a productive and environmentally responsible manner and to work as a Department in the most productive way. 2 Contents Pag Ministerial Foreword ......................................................................................................... 4 Secretary General’s Statement .......................................................................................... 6 Departmental Key Outputs in 2014 .................................................................................... 7 High Level Goal - Communications .................................................................................. 11 High Level Goal - Broadcasting/Postal ............................................................................. 17 High Level Goal - Energy ................................................................................................... 21 High Level Goal - Natural Resources ................................................................................ 27 High Level Goal - Corporate & Financial Affairs ............................................................... 33 Appendix A: Structure of the Department at end 2014 ..................................................... 37 Appendix B: Vote 29 - 2014 Estimates and Outturn ......................................................... 38 Appendix C: Legislation .................................................................................................... 40 Appendix D: Petroleum Authorisations granted ............................................................... 43 Appendix E: Bodies under the aegis of the Department .................................................... 45 Appendix F: Commercial State Sponsored Bodies ............................................................. 48 Appendix G: Acronym Index ............................................................................................ 49 3 Ministerial Foreword I welcome the publication of this report which sets out the activities and achievements of my Department in 2014 in delivering on the high level goals in the Department’s Statement of Strategy for the period 2011 to 2014, the relevant commitments in the Programme for Government and the Statement of Government Priorities. It was a great privilege to be appointed as Minister in July 2014 to a Department that is at the cutting edge in a range of economic and social sectors. 2014 saw significant progress made by the private sector in bringing high speed broadband services to towns and villages around Ireland. The original targeted private sector rollout under the National Broadband Plan of 1m premises to be passed by end 2015 will now be exceeded with 1.2 million premises already passed and 1.6 million to be passed by end 2016. Work on the State led intervention was also substantially progressed last year with a national High- Speed coverage Map published for public consultation in November. On the back of the progress made in 2014, the Department will submit a comprehensive intervention strategy to Government in mid-2015. All post-primary schools now have high speed broadband connectivity with the completion of the national rollout of the 100Mbps Schools Broadband project. In all, almost 800 post-primary schools and Educational Centres have been connected to high speed broadband services under the project. The Trading Online Voucher Scheme was launched nationally in July 2014 and aims to get 2,000 small and micro enterprises trading online by the end of 2015, as well as catalysing action from other small and medium sized enterprises. Some 550 small businesses had been awarded vouchers to invest in developing their online trading capabilities by the end of 2014. The results, in terms of business growth and job creation potential, are already evident. A Green Paper on Energy Policy in Ireland was published in May 2014. Over 1,200 submissions were received, showing the high level of interest by stakeholders in developing the new policy. A White Paper on Energy Policy will be published later in 2015. The Sale of non-strategic generation capacity by ESB under the State Assets Disposal Programme was completed which, together with the sale of Bord Gáis Energy, yielded significant funds to the State for reinvestment in critical public capital programmes. In the sustainable energy area, over 22,000 homes benefitted from energy efficiency upgrades and 273 MW of renewable electricity capacity was installed during the year. The Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP) was completed in February 2014 and provides a framework for the sustainable development of offshore renewable energy in Ireland. A Draft Bioenergy Plan was published in October 2014 which identifies the opportunity, at a national level, for the sustainable development of Ireland's biomass resources. 4 A review of the post office network was initiated in 2014 and in December a Post Office Network Business Development Group was announced. The design for the National Postcode System and the brand Eircode was approved by Government in April, 2014. In June the Government announced the revision of Ireland’s oil and gas fiscal terms to increase the maximum tax ‘take‘ to 55% and introduced a minimum tax level for all fields that go into production. This also marked the formal opening of Ireland’s 2015 Atlantic licensing round, continuing the offer of licensing options and introducing innovative changes in terms of different exploration areas. Ireland continued to be Europe’s largest Zinc producer with mining output (principally lead and zinc) valued at €417 million and an active exploration programme involving over 600 exploration licences. The Geological Survey of Ireland mapped over 3,000Km2 under the National Seabed Mapping project (INFOMAR) and continued to expand the Tellus geochemical soil sampling and geophysical programme. Inland Fisheries Ireland continued to support Ireland’s multi-million angling sector and tourism products across 77,000Kms of rivers and streams and 240,000 km2 of inland lakes. I wish to thank the staff of the Department for their commitment and efforts throughout 2014 which saw excellent progress made in all areas of the Department’s brief. I will continue to work with my colleague Minister of State Joe McHugh TD to deliver on the Government’s commitments and to build and deepen the ongoing economic recovery. Alex White, T.D. Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources 5 Secretary General’s Statement This Annual Report is the final annual report under the Department’s Statement of Strategy for the period 2011-2014 and details the good progress delivered across the sectors for which the Department is responsible. The report provides a summary of the key outputs in 2014 along with highlights of the programmes under each of the high level objectives in the Statement of Strategy which contribute to the overall delivery of key commitments in the Programme for Government and Statement of Government Priorities. A new Statement of Strategy for the Department, covering the period 2015-2017, was approved by the Government in February. The Department completed a capacity review in 2014 which looked at how we are set up and resourced to carry out our business. The review was conducted in close collaboration with staff and we are now engaged in implementing an action plan prepared on foot of the review. The changes being introduced in the Department are set within a broader change agenda for the Civil Service outlined in the Civil Service Renewal Plan published in October 2014. I would like to express my appreciation for the excellent working relationships with the Department’s agencies and State companies, who play a major role in delivering in key strategic and policy areas. I look forward to working with our staff, agencies and stakeholders in advancing the key priorities set out in our new Statement of Strategy. I would like to express my appreciation for the on-going support which the Department receives from Minister Alex White T.D. and Minister of State, Joe McHugh T.D. Mark Griffin Secretary General 6 Departmental Key Outputs in 2014 Communications Broadband market penetration showed a 0.2% increase over 2013, reaching 1.7 million subscribers by year end. Ireland’s household broadband penetration rate (fixed + mobile), at 80%, was higher than the EU28 average at the end of 2014.Commercial telecommunications providers continued to invest in Next Generation Access (NGA) services with some €2.5 billion being spent on modernising telecoms networks and services in an increasing number of largely urban areas. As a result, some 1.6 million premises will have access to commercial NGA services by the end of 2016. The Department continues to progress work on the Government’s National Broadband Plan. This will involve a State-funded intervention to ensure those parts of the country which are not covered by the commercial investment mentioned above will also have access to a modern, reliable and high-speed broadband service. A national High-Speed coverage Map was published for public consultation in November 2014. The Department is developing a comprehensive intervention
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