Results 26,101-26,120 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: It is part of the bio-economy strategy that is being developed. There are sustainability criteria applied to imported biomass material.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: Obviously the detail of that has to be worked out. I doubt if it will involve establishing a separate Cabinet committee. I do not know yet. We will have to decide the best model and hear people's input. I chair a high-level group of assistant secretaries, representing five Departments. That group will probably be key. Whether the Taoiseach chooses to have an individual Cabinet committee...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: The approach we will seek to adopt will involve identifying the policy initiatives and, as we have done in other such exercises, setting a quarter by which they will be delivered. It will also involve overseeing the delivery and working with the Oireachtas and other groups to populate the coming year's agenda. This is not a static process whereby we decide in February that this is it for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: I am certainly open to the consideration. I understand the Government will be given proposals on carbon budgeting. This year the investments related to climate action are being separated in the ordinary REV but there are proposals being developed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: One sees the aggregate impact, then, in each Department.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: Four climate action regional offices have been put in place and this will be part of their mandate. Each year, the SEAI encourages community-based initiatives. At present, it has a call out for such an initiative in respect of a mixture of schools, enterprises and homes. We will address this matter by finding clusters within our communities or across enterprises that can create the impetus...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: I fully agree that we need to look at how this will impact different regions and areas and what we can do to respond to the challenges it creates. It will be around retraining, new opportunities, setting up enterprises, and seeding enterprise hubs. Some of the machinery for that is already in place. When I was Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department had regional...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: I would caution against having a stand-alone Minister with responsibility for nothing other than climate action. The process must be Government-led. The key to success is the amount of effort made put into the challenge by other Departments rather than the one with "Climate Action" in its title. That requires the authority coming from Cabinet and the Taoiseach, not from one individual...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: They are located on the Atlantic seaboard north, Atlantic seaboard south, the Dublin metropolitan region and the eastern and midlands region. The lead authorities are Mayo County Council, Cork County Council, Dublin City Council and Kildare County Council.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: That is a separate issue. We have to deliver something in December anyway.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: The December document is a requirement of the European Union. We have to produce a draft energy and climate policy in December 2018 and a completed policy in December 2019. There is a one year window between the draft and the completion of the policy. I am working to a similar deadline to the Deputy and aim to have a whole-of-Government policy in place by February. What we submit to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: That is what would be helpful. It is a matter of setting an ambition that must be not only ambitious but also achievable and realistic. I do not expect the committee to go down to the granular level at which we will have to engage at cross-departmental level. Carbon tax is self-evident. As for forestry, again, we are well off the targets we have set ourselves, as I understand it. Bigger...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: That is very wise counsel. There is no doubt but that we will fail if we do not get communities to engage. Much of this is about people changing the way they travel, work and heat and insulate their homes and the choices they make in all kinds of lifestyle areas. To make this effective, one must be aware of the constraints with which people are living their lives. One cannot come in from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: It is.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: There will not be big buckets of money to deliver it, though. That is-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: Yes. We must be creative.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: I think Deputy Smith misunderstands the purpose of a carbon tax. It is not to raise money. A carbon tax is to ensure people pay for the carbon damage their activities cause. In an ideal world this carbon tax would eventually raise no funds. It is not a question of finding some profitable enterprise and raising funds from it. This is about getting people to change their attitude to how...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: The truth is that we have to do all of the things that have been mentioned. We have to invest. The price of the fuel that is chosen is an important factor when encouraging people to invest in better energy systems. If we want to see more people using public transport, we must acknowledge that the price of the fuel they use in their private cars is part of what will determine their...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: -----has been very successful where it has been applied.