Results 32,161-32,180 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Cards (11 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: 864.To ask the Minister for Health to grant extensions to medical card entitlements for children for whom domiciliary care allowance is being paid beyond age 16 to when they complete school, as it is difficult to be approved for disability allowance while still at school. [25492/24]

International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Motion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: I will preface my remarks by stating what a remarkable institution the European Union is. It is unique. It was formed by statesmen determined that in future, difficult global problems would be resolved co-operatively and peacefully among the countries involved. For Ireland, membership of the European Union has been the gateway to take our place among the countries of the world, as Parnell...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. When the circular economy Act was passed, we envisaged that we would have the circular economy strategy within six months. It seems that two years on we are still talking about analysing the baseline from which the strategy would evolve. What has gone so radically wrong with the original intention?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: The Act stated not later than six months from the date the section came in-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: That in itself is a bit of a cop-out. We brought in a strategy that envisaged six months, but the relevant section was not activated so we do not have a strategy. It is hard to square that with the sense of urgency that people feel about the use of materials that have huge emission impact, etc.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: When does Mr. McLoughlin expect that will be published?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: I will ask about the existing producer responsibility schemes. Can Mr. McLoughlin give the committee the current recovery rates and the destination of the material recovered? The purpose of this is to recover a high percentage and then see that the material is reused in some fashion that would give the highest value potential. Does Mr. McLoughlin have them available now? I have not seen...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: That would be excellent to get. On the reuse, the fear is that it is exported in a ship and no one really cares much as to what happens afterwards where the intention is to recover to get a maximum value. What information has the Department on the value of the chain after these materials are recovered?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: No. Ms Kiely has them all there. There is: vehicles, tyres, farm plastics, tobacco filters, batteries, packaging, WEEE. They are all listed there. There are eight or ten of them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: Do we have a baseline performance for Ireland on these eight streams as of now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: Surely the baseline data are there if you know that they are collecting a certain number of tonnes. As a small number of people are doing the collection, surely the baseline is evident.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: I would have thought that was relatively low-hanging fruit, and that we would not need a strategy to start to tighten some of those matters. I want to ask about the green procurement baseline. Reading what Ms Kiely said will come out of this, the only sector she seemed to be firm about was ICT. It struck me that it is probably happening anyhow. It is not a stretch target that by 2025 a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: The OGP has a very bad record. Saying the Department is working closely with it does not fill me with confidence. At some point higher up in the hierarchy of command, there has to be a decision that green procurement matters. The EPA is right in saying it has not really impacted. I do not know how-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: The targets have to be more severe on the public sector in delivering on procurement than we would be envisaging for the rest of the consumer sector.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Richard Bruton: There is no evidence that sort of leading by example has been a feature. For my last question, I return to the issue of repair. It strikes me that the whole trend has been towards shorter life – replace rather than repair. That has been the commercial model. Changing this will be expensive for the sector. Does the regulatory impact assessment, RIA, on this repair show the...