Results 25,901-25,920 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Metropolitan Area Networks Programme (13 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I refer the Deputy to the reply to Question No. 528 of 23 October 2018. The position remains unchanged.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (13 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I am very cognisant of the problems created by single-use plastics and I am working both at a national and European level to tackle the problem. In January 2018, the European Commission published the European Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy. The strategy focuses on plastic production and use and sets a goal of ensuring all plastic placed on the EU market will be recyclable...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Staff Data (13 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: There are 30 males and 14 females employed in senior positions in my Department. This covers Principal Officer and Principal Officer equivalent, Assistant Secretary and Secretary General.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Disposal Charges (13 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department is continuing the work of developing a mechanism to provide a €75 support for vulnerable persons with a condition such as lifelong or long-term medical incontinence to help meet the average annual cost of disposing of their domestic waste. I am informed that this process has taken longer than envisaged, due to a number of issues, including data protection issues that have...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Metropolitan Area Networks Programme (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: An external report on extending or re-tendering the Management Services Entity for the Metropolitan Area Networks was completed by Norcontel in June 2016. This report proposed that the preferred option, based on the analysis, was to extend the current concession agreements. A redacted version of this report was released following a recent Freedom of Information request. The redacted report...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Public Procurement Contracts Data (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has engaged with the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) for procurement support and advice on an as needed basis since that Office commenced operations in 2014. My Department has recourse to OGP’s Schedule of Supplier Frameworks and Contracts when procuring goods and services. 60 contracts have been awarded by my Department under these centralised arrangements since...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Public Procurement Contracts Data (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 160 and 161 together. Since 2003, twelve Concession Agreements with private companies have been in place in my Department. Independent legal and procurement advice was sought in five of these cases and in no instance did the advice received recommend not to proceed with the procurement process. Four of these twelve Concession Agreements related to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Public Procurement Contracts (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 162 and 169 together. The Department commenced two public procurements for a Concessionaire to manage operate and maintain the Metropolitan Area Networks Phases 1 and 2 in 2003 and 2007 respectively in compliance with national and EU procurement regulations. Contract notices for both procurements were published in the Official Journal of the European...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland. This is being achieved via a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention. The expected take up-rate for the State intervention area in the NBP is a matter for the ongoing procurement process. More generally, information on...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The final tender for the contract to roll out the National Broadband Plan State intervention was received by my Department on 18 September and evaluation of that tender submission is ongoing. I do not propose to speculate on the outcome of an ongoing tender evaluation. The Taoiseach has asked Mr Peter Smyth, the independent process auditor to the NBP procurement to review the process....

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Metropolitan Area Networks Programme (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: enet, as part of its contractual obligations under the MSE I and MSE II Concession Agreements submits quarterly reports to the Department in relation to the Phase I and Phase II Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). These reports include financial, operational and administrative information that is commercially sensitive and confidential and therefore the reports are not made publically available.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Print Media Supports (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: In recognition of the importance of a free and independent press, the print media sector is not subject to any sector specific regulation by the State. Rather, the Press Council of Ireland and the Office of the Press Ombudsman were established by industry to safeguard and promote professional and ethical standards in Irish newspapers and magazines. These bodies have been formally recognised...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Brexit Issues (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, Government approval was obtained last year to draft a number of legislative amendments to the Broadcasting Act 2009. This included amendments to section 71. Given the possibility that some UK based broadcasters will look to establish a base in Ireland following Brexit, it is considered that the current provision should be amended in anticipation of this...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Expenditure (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: As outlined in response to previous Questions in this matter, the cost required to bring high speed broadband services to the 540,000 premises in the NBP State intervention area will be determined through the NBP State intervention procurement process.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Legal Costs (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I refer the Deputy to the reply to Question no. 855 of 6 November 2018. As an appeal is ongoing in Court of Appeal, I have no further information at this time.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The premises referred to by the Deputy is in the LIGHT BLUE area of the High Speed Broadband Map, which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie. The LIGHT BLUE areas are where eir is in the process of deploying high speed broadband to 300,000 premises on a commercial basis. Under a Commitment Agreement signed with my Department in April 2017, eir is in the process of...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The 2015 Energy White PaperIreland's Transition to a Low Carbon Energy Futuresets out a road-map for Ireland to reduce its Greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% by 2050. The strategy is clear that non-renewable energy sources will make a significant – though progressively smaller – contribution to our energy mix over the course of the energy transition. The National Mitigation...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Efficiency (15 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The public sector has a target to improve its energy efficiency by 33% by 2020. All Public sector Bodies are legally required to report their energy performance annually to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The Monitoring and Reporting (M&R) System, established by SEAI on behalf of my department, enables public bodies and schools to track their energy efficiency...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (20 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: An Post is a commercial State body, and it has been under very severe financial pressure in recent years. It has had to take steps, including increasing the prices of stamps, among other things, to ensure that it can continue to deliver a service. It has negotiated a settlement with the postmasters whereby some post offices will voluntarily close. It has also developed a protocol under...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (20 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I have no problem communicating with the Deputy, but it must be borne in mind that this is a public company that has commercial responsibility. It has to develop its proposals in a way that is financially viable.