Results 26,301-26,320 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (15 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: A review of "A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland" will be initiated as soon as is practically possible in 2019. This review process will take account of a number of initiatives, such as the European circular economy waste and plastics legislation framework and the reports from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Price Monitoring Group. This...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Warmth and Well-being Scheme (15 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: The Warmth and Wellbeing Scheme was established in 2016 as a joint energy, social and health policy initiative with the Department of Health and cross Government support from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. The scheme was designed to objectively measure and validate the health and wellbeing impacts of improving the living conditions of vulnerable people living in...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Medical Waste Disposal (15 Jan 2019)

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: Electricity Grid (15 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: The total amount of renewable generation connected to the grid at October 2018 was 3,857MW, of which wind generation was approximately 3,508MW, hydro was 238MW and biomass was 91MW. Eirgrid estimates that a total of between 3,900MW and 4,300MW of onshore renewable generation capacity will be required to allow Ireland to achieve 40% renewable electricity by 2020. The Energy in Ireland 2018...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (15 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: In April 2017 my Department published an updated version of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) High Speed Broadband Map. This is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. The 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...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Correspondence (15 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: There were eight customer complaints received by my Department in 2016 and 15 received in 2017; all of these were resolved. Nine of the 13 customer complaints received in 2018 have been resolved. None of the complaints had to be referred to the Ombudsman. The categories of complaint included broadcasting, waste, phone bills, eircodes, etc.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, also attended that meeting last night. He will work with the EPA and other responsible bodies, including the local authority, on the matter. If legislation falls to be considered, he will consider it. The parties are working to resolve the matter.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Change Policy (16 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: The 24th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 24) took place in Katowice, Poland, from 2 to 15 December 2018. COP 24 had two major outcomes - the completion of negotiations aimed at enabling the full implementation of the Paris Agreement and the conclusion of a year-long process of reflection on the imperative of scaling up global efforts to address climate change, the Talanoa...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Fuel Prices (16 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: The Irish retail oil sector is an open and competitive market. As such, I have no role in the setting of fuel prices. The retail price of gasoline and diesel at the pumps is determined by a number of factors, including the price of crude oil and refined product on the international markets. Oil prices are subject to many factors, including market supply and demand levels and as oil is...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (16 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. This is being achieved via a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. In 2012, less than 700,000, or 30% of all 2.3 million...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Staff Data (16 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 224 and 225 together. There are currently 413 staff employed in my Department. A number of staff are qualified members of various professional bodies. Details of the professional organisations where membership is supported by the Department, are set out in Table 1. This data does not include the professional qualifications with organisations which may be...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (16 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: The procurement process to appoint a bidder for the NBP State intervention network is now at the final stage. My Department’s assessment of the final tender submission received from the bidder on 18 September 2018 is reaching a conclusion. While I have received briefings from officials in my Department in relation to the NBP procurement process, I have yet to receive an interim or...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electric Vehicle Grants (17 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: I understand the Deputy is referring to the electric vehicle home charger grant which provide up to €600 to support the installation of a home charger. This grant, and the relevant appeals process, is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland on behalf of my Department. Details of the scheme including eligibility criteria can be found on the website...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Recycling Policy (17 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: On 3 January 2019, the Government decided that Government Departments would no longer purchase, directly or indirectly, single use plastic beverage cups, cutlery or straws. From 1 March 2019, this policy will also apply to all public bodies. Certain limited exemptions are in place for reasons of public health and hygiene. Other aspects of the Government Decision include improving the way...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Expenditure (17 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: The information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

National Broadband Plan: Motion [Private Members] (22 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Catherine Murphy for raising this matter. This is an important debate on a hugely important project and the Deputy recognises that. It is worth recalling that the programme for Government sets out that one of the biggest challenges facing rural Ireland is to bridge the digital divide with urban areas and remedy the situation for at least the next 25 years. This is the...

National Broadband Plan: Motion [Private Members] (22 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: He was there to ensure the integrity of the process and he approached it in the right way. He looked at four tests. These were whether the Minister was privy to sensitive information, whether he took any decisions in the process that benefitted Granahan McCourt, whether he was in position to influence changes in the tender documents and, in particular, the evaluation of the submissions. In...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electric Vehicles (22 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: The majority of the existing publicly accessible electric vehicle infrastructure was rolled out by the ESB through its eCars programme. This network includes 77 fast chargers, mainly on national routes. A map showing the charge points, including the status and availability of the charge points, is available on the ESB's website at www.esb.ie/ecars. In addition, under the first call for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Medical Waste Disposal (22 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 507 and 517 together. My Department is continuing the work of developing a mechanism to provide a 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...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Inland Fisheries (22 Jan 2019)

Richard Bruton: Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) manages salmon stocks on an individual river basis as each of Ireland’s 147 salmon rivers (including river sections and estuaries) has its own genetically unique stock of salmon. IFI is supported in its management role by scientific advice from Ireland’s independent Standing Scientific Committee (SSC), comprising scientists from a range of...