Results 1-20 of 225 for waste management speaker:Richard Bruton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Richard Bruton: I welcome the work the Minister of State has undertaken since the passage of the Act. I must say, however, that his Department continues to view the circular economy through the very narrow lens of waste and levies on waste materials. That is evidenced in his own presentation but also in the plan which he recently presented, where the ambition is zero growth in waste per head of population...

Nature Restoration Law: Statements (7 Mar 2024)

Richard Bruton: ...comes from sustainable practices. We can also verify that we are not polluting our rivers and that we are restoring them to a pristine condition. Farmers know better than any of us what it is to manage land in a sustainable way. They have husbanded our land for years. They know how to do this, but we must ensure that they are incentivised and supported to do it. Many people looking...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: COP28: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...set, the phase-out of internal combustion engines and so on. Against that background where Ireland is struggling to meet some of its targets and is probably falling behind in areas such as even waste management, what does Mr. MacEvilly mean by putting hard limits on fossil fuel investment? In Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, internal combustion engines are still being sold. Europe has...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Nov 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...a prosperous farm will look like in ten years’ time. If we do not have that, it will be hard to mobilise change. We need to bring not just the Bill itself but also the principles. Savings are being made on waste management at the same time as the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, reported during the week that two thirds of what goes into municipal waste should not be there at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (15 Nov 2023)

Richard Bruton: I acknowledge the achievements of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It has been no mean achievement to manage Covid-19, Brexit and the Ukraine crisis, come through with 2.6 million people at work and, at the same time, move to introduce a living wage, sick pay and remote working rights, protect tips, have a new public holiday and move towards recognising collective...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (15 Nov 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...into rethinking. Mr. Cummins put his finger on the issue here. There is a first-mover advantage. If the Irish food sector gets ahead of this curve and becomes the go-to exemplar of how to manage food waste, address the use of various pollutants that might cause damage, minimise packaging, get consumers to be more alert to the way they consume, etc., it will be a win-win outcome. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with Chairperson of the Health and Safety Authority (25 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...up to this? We already see that remote working is becoming quite prevalent. Undoubtedly, this must throw up some health and safety issues as to who is responsible for safety and how it is to be managed. It would be interesting to get Ms Byron's insights. We also heard about how AI is changing the way people are overseen in the workplace. It can be both a positive, if it identifies...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: The Circular Economy: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: Very quickly, I am interested to know if the targets for the different sectors have been developed yet. It will be interesting. Specifically, are targets being set for the volume of waste generated? It is worrying that those numbers continue to go up. Will the Department be setting targets for reuse? I think the rate of reuse the Europe reports on Ireland now is something like 1.8%. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: SME Energy and Carbon Demands, Green Initiatives and Technology: Discussion (27 Sep 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...you start to look at the whole responsibility, from, as Mr. Magee rightly said, design - they say 80% of environmental damage is baked in at the design stage - right through to the discarding and managing of waste. That is what they have done and it seems to bridge the siloed approach we have developed. Do the witnesses see merit in the committee recommending to the Government that it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Statement of Strategy: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (12 Jul 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...high users. To examine the sustainability of our sectors, the circular economy, the materials and processes used by companies, and how they approach maintaining materials in use for a long period, manage waste and recover the percentage of reused material that goes into their primary processes need to be considered. Has the Department recognised that is a very different thing from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Statement of Strategy: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (12 Jul 2023)

Richard Bruton: To return to the issue of sustainability and the Department's strategy in this area, from the published data it seems that Ireland is out of line in material use and poor waste processing. We have the lowest reuse level in Europe, other than Romania. We now see that we will not hit the target for plastics set at EU level. We have not seen the wide deployment of smart controls, namely, the...

Progress on the National Parks and Wildlife Service: Statements (6 Jul 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...regions are now subject to regulation. There is a significant shift in the State attitude, with Bord na Móna's title going from brown to green and Coillte's target of 50% of its forestry being managed for diversity, building from the present 20%. There are grounds for optimism that we can make the shift, huge as the scale of the challenge is. It is crucial people do not feel...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (11 May 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...good at either constructing buildings or enterprises that put sustainability at their core. We have 50% higher emissions and a low uptake of renewables outside of electricity, poor material and waste management systems and the lowest rate of circularity, bar Romania, in Europe. Does the Minister agree he has a central role in addressing this?

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (9 May 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...mix of meat and vegetables over the course of each week; if the composition of meals is tracked to ensure high standards of nutrition; and if the project has adopted targets in respect of the management of waste and packaging. [21223/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Start-up and Scaling Environment in Ireland: Discussion (22 Mar 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...way we do our business. Every supply chain will be impacted by a very dramatic change. Are the start-up opportunities being thought through? For example, in construction, if we are to recover waste from sites, we will need to have passporting and a data market to create that space. We will have to try to source people who may use it. It seems there is potential for high-potential...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Mar 2023)

Richard Bruton: Turning to wider interests, how far has the Department progressed in putting together a circular strategy for the whole food sector that would look at food waste, packaging and all of the other elements? It is a commitment in the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act. Where is the Department on carbon farming? That is the most significant way of creating an income stream for...

Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (1 Mar 2023)

Richard Bruton: ..., we will see an increasing need for social enterprises to emerge that do things that have not been done traditionally or that we have been forgotten about, such as how to repair and recover things or how we manage waste streams in an innovative way. There will be plenty of opportunities where we can see integrated communities supporting social enterprises and initiatives in this area. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Building Reform Regulations: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (14 Feb 2023)

Richard Bruton: .... I want to move on to a matter for which the Department is clearly responsible and this is its own procurement policy. To what extent does its procurement policy specify issues such as on-site waste segregation? Does it state that any building it sanctions must have certain standards in terms of how waste is managed and recovered? Does the Department apply a wood-first principle in...

Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Second Stage (19 Jan 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...reference to and understanding of the importance of that. Optimal use of food surpluses is a key element in the supply chain. If we want to be robust we need to see the 1.1 million tonnes of food waste we put into landfill used more productively. That does not count the food waste that occurs before the farm gate. All of these are important elements of a long-term robust supply...

Climate Action Plan 2023: Statements (18 Jan 2023)

Richard Bruton: ...second matter is the circular economy and I know the Minister of State has done much work to contribute to that. The plan emphasises that there is much more to the circular economy than reducing waste, which tends to be the focus of the strategy at the moment. It is about the whole design of the supply chain. We all have responsibility, including those who design buildings, those who...