Results 30,581-30,600 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: The truth is that the Government has struck the right balance in this. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, has said that the Government's measures in the recent budget will protect people who are at risk of going into energy poverty. They will be protected from that by the measures the Government has introduced. That is a fact and not something produced by the Government. Of...

Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: The Government is approaching this in a prudent way. We are making sure to protect people, while also pursuing companies that have been making excessive profits. When the Government is deciding on the appropriate tax for the so-called solidarity contribution, I suggest to the Minister of State that we should go to the high end of the permitted scale, rather than down around the 33%. The...

Employment Permits Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: Having 258,000 more people at work than before Covid-19 struck is an extraordinary achievement by the Government. This has brought prosperity to every region. We have record levels of work permits being issued and record levels of inward migration, with 92,000 people, gross, last year, or a net 60,000. The Minister and his Department have handled that huge surge well, despite the emerging...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Council for Special Education (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: 116. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way that the changes in the resources in the National Council for Special Education planned for 2023 will be deployed for the benefit of families. [49763/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: 132. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she has adopted a strategy for improving leadership and performance evaluation in schools. [49766/22]

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Policy (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: 187. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he has put restrictions on the work of obligated entities to support household energy upgrades; if he will identify these; and the reason that he has introduced those restrictions, particularly at a time when the European Union has demanded urgent and immediate reductions in energy use which can be most easily...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: 520. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a person who was unaware of their entitlement to household benefits when over the age of 70 years can claim retrospection to the point at which they turned 70 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50264/22]

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (13 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: A report today indicates that new construction in Ireland is extremely carbon intensive. This is a reminder, as we grapple with the housing crisis, that we also have very poor occupancy rates. It is not just high vacancy; it is also that 92% of people in my age bracket are in accommodation that is substantially in excess of their needs. We have not made right-sizing a serious policy issue...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I thank the witnesses for their presentation. We are now in an emergency situation, both in terms of the SEAI recording that our carbon emissions went up in 2021 - which is not surprising as we were coming out of Covid but, nonetheless, we want to see steady progress - and we have a price emergency. In that context, should we be leaning all the schemes offered by the SEAI much more towards...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: How many?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: Those numbers are quite striking. There is low-level opportunity. If we know an area comprises homes built before 1960, we know where they are. Why not use contractors to target every home in poorer energy estates to install cavity wall and attic insulation? It would be very cheap to do and there could be a demonstration effect in older estates by doing a lot of work at one time. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I am running out of time. The issue for me is scale. We can do shallow retrofits at scale if we reorganise a little to drive them. Most of the aggregators the SEAI is putting together will do very expensive long-term projects. I worry a bit about the balance in the midst of the crisis we are in.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I would like to go back to the point Senator Boylan made about the hub controllers and their eligibility. Do the witnesses stand over the figure of a 36% for the reduction in heating need? That seems a very significant reduction for the very low cost that is involved. The witnesses referred to an 80% grant for attic and wall insulation, but if there is that sort of saving to be gleaned...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I am sorry, but I do not understand the distinction between heat management and energy saving.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: Yes, I know, but if they were having that impact - and I do not have information on the capacity - they would certainly be in the 80% support. Only €250 would be 80% and if you could get that sort of saving, it would be a-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: Maybe the SEAI will come back on this. I did contact it before about this issue and I did not get to bottom it out satisfactorily, so I would appreciate a response on that. I presume that taking savings in comfort applies to everything.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: It could apply to every single scheme. If the SEAI is going to correct for that, it would be correcting for that right across all its saving predictions. I would like to go back to the other issue the SEAI representatives raised, which was about these obligated entities. What exactly are their commitments now? I was surprised to hear the witnesses say these entities could decide for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Retrofitting Schemes: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (11 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: Is this decided by the SEAI or by the people who -----