Results 25,821-25,840 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Bord na Móna (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: We have no intention of allowing the midlands to become a rust belt. I was the Minister who introduced regional action plans. It was the first time ever the State developed bottom-up regional enterprise plans for which we allocated €250 million in regional enterprise funds. That was the first time we had such a concerted approach. Under that, we have established an implementation...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Funding (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Government allocated an initial €275 million in the Capital Plan published in September 2015, for the initial years of the network build-out for the National Broadband Plan State intervention. The €275m represented an initial stimulus, in the knowledge that significant further funding will be required over the lifetime of the proposed 25 year contract. The total State...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Funding (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004 provides that a maximum of up to 10% of the capital envelopes of each Vote may be carried over to the following year, subject to the approval of the Oireachtas and an Order from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Voted allocations which remain unspent at the end of the financial year must be surrendered to the Exchequer, with the exception...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The premises referred to by the Deputy is in the AMBER area on the High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website atwww.broadband.gov.ie.The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process. The procurement process to appoint a bidder for the State intervention network is...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Cyber Security Data (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: My remit includes responsibility for both the policy and operational components of Cyber Security, and as such, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is located in my Department. The NCSC is responsible for acting as a conduit for information to constituents including operators of Critical National Infrastructure, businesses, Government Departments and Agencies, and also for providing...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Cyber Security (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is located within my Department, and serves to provide a range of cyber security services to owners of Government IT infrastructure and Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). The expertise contained within the NCSC covers a broad range of capabilities including computer science, software engineering, malware analysis and information technology...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Staff Data (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table. The material has been prepared on a Full Time Equivalent basis. Grade FTE Administrative Officer 20.00 Assistant Principal 71.67 Assistant Secretary 5.00 Assistant Superintendent GSI 1.00 Cartographer GSI 1.00 Chief Superintendent 1.00 Chief Telecom Adviser 1.00 Civilian Driver 2.00 Clerical Officer 50.60...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Data (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 311 and 312 together. According to my Department’s High Speed Broadband Map, available at www.broadband.gov.ie, there are some 14,000 Sligo premises and some 11,000 Leitrim premises in the AMBER area. The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Budgets (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 314 to 319, inclusive, together. The €256 million in capital funding allocated to my Department in Budget 2019 represents a 22% or €47 million increase over 2018, and is divided across the six programme areas as follows: Programme Area €m Communications 74.4 Broadcasting 2.0 Energy 131.6 Natural Resources 13.3 Inland Fisheries 3.1...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for the Bill. This issue is part of the Government's digital strategy and we are keen to work with the committee in this area. I have a little experience in this area from the work I was doing in the Department of Education and Skills. For example, we required all schools to consult parents regarding the use of smartphones in schools. Some 87% of primary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: To answer Deputy Ó Laoghaire directly, there is clearly a regulatory task to be done if we are moving from self-regulation to a system of oversight. Someone needs to oversee this, as has been clear from everything I said. The Deputy is correct to anticipate that this will go beyond criminal offences. There is already a liability for criminal offences and a responsibility to remove...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: In our desire to show that the Oireachtas is serious about online safety, we need to be careful because setting up some central body is not always the correct approach. It is important for the regulatory task that we have someone who regulates and delivers on that. It is not necessarily true, however, that we need to put a sign on someone's door and then state that is where people go if...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: To get anything done, what is needed is the authority, budget and will to do it. What the Taoiseach would do is enforce the will of the Departments to do it. In regard to the other two elements of money and powers, these are set out in the NCCA and the budgets allocated to the Departments of Education and Skills and Justice and Equality. Getting things done requires having the tools of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: Advisory would be fine but execution and co-ordination is for somewhere else.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Expenditure (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: With regard to the capital budget for 2019, funding for the NBP will be provided from within the overall funding envelope of €87 million for the Communications Programme in Budget 2019, with individual programme allocations still to be finalised and published in the Revised Estimates for Public Services.  Specific funding allocations for 2020 and 2021...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation Targets (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has the lead role in developing Ireland’s first National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), covering the period 2021-2030. The NECP will include trajectories for renewable energy (including renewable electricity ambitions), energy efficiency, and national emissions, as well as the measures required to achieve these trajectories. The Plan will contain the policies and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Protection Agency Licences (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The time taken by the EPA to process an application for a license varies depending on a range of circumstances and factors, including the nature and complexity of the activity/installation and the quality of the information submitted. In respect of Industrial Emissions (IE) and Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licence applications, which are issued under the Environmental Protection...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The premises referred to by the Deputy is in the AMBER area on the High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie. The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.  The procurement process to appoint a bidder for the State intervention...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The premises referred to by the Deputy is in the AMBER area on the High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie. The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.  The procurement process to appoint a bidder for the State intervention...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Metropolitan Area Networks Programme (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: A detailed review of the MAN’s was undertaken in 2016 to consider whether to extend the existing agreements or retender for a new concessionaire at the end of the term of the Concession Agreements.  Subsequently, an external review by Norcontel proposed that the preferred option, based on the analysis, was to extend the current concession agreements.  In 2017, in compliance...