Results 25,961-25,980 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I am happy to facilitate the Business Committee in whatever way it decides to order the business. I assure the House of that.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: This has been a very complex and ambitious programme. We are seeking to provide high-speed broadband to every premises in the country bar none. It will be 100% coverage and that involves over 500,000 premises. This has not been done by many other countries and it is an ambitious programme. I agree that the process has been complex. There was a competitive dialogue whereby anyone could...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: Until a decision is taken, there cannot be a schedule of investment. It is impossible to set out a schedule of investment until one decides whether one is going with the tender.

Microgeneration Support Scheme Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies who participated in the debate. I particularly thank Deputy Stanley for bringing this Bill forward. As the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, said, the Government will not oppose the Bill. Indeed, we need a legal framework for microgeneration and we must promote its expansion. It is undoubtedly an important opportunity for people to participate in reducing their...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Disposal Charges (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 485 and 489 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (27 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: Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department published the Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP) in 2014 which set out policy for the sustainable development of our abundant offshore renewable energy resources. An interim review of the OREDP was published in May and is available on my Department’s website . The Offshore Renewable Energy Steering Group, which oversees the implementation of...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: In April 2017 my Department published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan. The Map is colour coded and searchable by address/Eircode: - The AMBER...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The premises referred to by the Deputy are 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...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Single Use Plastics proposal, published this year, is an EU-wide action plan to tackle single use plastic items commonly found as litter in the marine environment. This includes a proposed 90% collection target for plastic bottles and nationally we need to consider how this could be attained. A Deposit and Return Scheme has been identified as one option for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Change Negotiations (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 492 to 494, inclusive, together. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will hold its 24th Conference of the Parties (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland, from 2 to 14 December 2018. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement at COP 21 in 2015, the focus of global negotiations has turned to the design of the rule-book which will enable...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The school referred to in the Question is located 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...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: A review of "A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland" will be initiated in 2019. The review, in tandem with other initiatives, such as the European circular economy waste and plastics legislation framework and reports from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Price Monitoring Group, will inform the development of a future national waste...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Consultancy Contracts Expenditure (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: A contract was awarded to appoint an independent process auditor to the National Broadband Plan procurement process in May 2016 following an open procurement process.  The fees paid to date in respect of these services are set out in the table below: Year Payments Made (including VAT) Services 2017 €1,968 Process auditor services 2018 (to date) €7,872 Process auditor...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electric Vehicles (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The majority of the existing network of publicly accessible charge points was rolled out by the ESB through its eCars programme. This network includes 77 fast chargers, mainly on national routes. An interactive map showing the locations of charging points throughout Ireland is available at www.esb.ie/our-businesses/ecars/charge-point-map. There are currently charging posts at a number of...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Biofuel Availability (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: Used cooking oil (or UCO) is the most widely used feedstock for biofuel used in Ireland.  In 2017, over 141 million litres of biodiesel produced from UCO was placed on the market here, of which 4.7 million litres was from feedstock sourced in Ireland. There is one biofuel manufacturer of scale in Ireland which has the facility to produce up to 34 million litres of biodiesel...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Change Adaptation Plans (27 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I have secured Government approval to prepare an All of Government Plan which will set out the actions which must be taken in every Government Department and Body to make Ireland a leader in responding to climate change. I will work with colleagues across Government to develop new initiatives across electricity, transport, heat, agriculture and other relevant sectors. The...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The position is that the final tender, which was at the end of a competitive dialogue, was lodged with my Department on 18 September. That tender is now being evaluated by the Department to examine issues such as the robustness of the technology, the governance of the project, and value for money. I hope to be in a position to bring that to Government for a decision in the near future. It...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate (28 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am sure he knows the way this works. Gas Networks Ireland is a commercial State-sponsored body and is regulated by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. The CRU has developed a network connections policy, under which industrial users, towns or groups of towns within a region can make an application to be considered for a connection....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate (28 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy probably needs to consider the connection policy because it sets out the framework that needs to be fulfilled. This includes identifying the businesses that will potentially use gas and their scale - there are concessionary rates for connection charges where there are small and medium sized enterprises, SMEs; and identifying the new estates that might come on stream that would use...