Results 2,481-2,500 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (24 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: I thank Mr. Savage for the presentation. I have three questions, the first of which is about all those methodologies he was talking about for improving herd performance. Are they not already embraced by the Teagasc list that covers genetics, feed, age, sward, animal health, slurry, fertilisers, early slaughter and all these matters? Teagasc has attempted to delineate what the policy ought...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (24 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: Some of my questions have been touched on but I will clarify Senator Daly's point. Teagasc has had a look at various technologies and actions by farmers that could reduce emissions. It has shown what they cost and whether they have a positive benefit for farmers - in other words, whether they are a net gain for the farm, whether they are more efficient and whether everything is better -...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (24 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: The whole point of a MAC curve is to show the investments people could make that give the best returns. I do not quite see the logic of dismissing the MAC curve and saying this is automatically good value for money. We need to see the metrics. Our last presentation said it was all about metrics. We need to see what carbon credits, or whatever one likes to call them, this delivers,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (24 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: I hear what Mr. Earls is saying. I think the solution is to accelerate Teagasc's work in order that we can make an informed decision but I hear what Mr. Earls is saying.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (24 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: I thank Mr. Price very much for the presentation. He is saying that what is happening now is wrong and that it is up to us, as policymakers, to create a new vision. It seems, however, that if we are to deliver the Paris commitments, the political challenge will be to bring communities on board. He seems to be saying that we must set a target to cut the herd, but he is not saying that we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (24 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: The short-term impact of methane is very high. In that context, is there not a strong argument for paying a premium for methane reduction? I accept that there is an issue around verification, but is it not a valid vision to suggest that we should pay farmers for methane reductions and that they should decide how they want to achieve them? I accept that farmers who have already engaged in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: Apart from the individual complaints - Mr. Godfrey indicated how these are dealt with - I am interested in hearing a little of the general position in the sector. Looking online, it seems that Ireland's pricing is approximately in the middle of the range across the European Union. There are approximately ten countries charging higher prices for motor fuels and eight that charge lower...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: To go back to what Senator Crowe and others are saying, I see two distinct roles that the commission has. One is to prosecute offences and I understand how that requires time and diligence to assemble evidence and being careful not to foul a potential prosecution. However on the other hand, it also has a role of consumer protection and I do not see why it could not at a very early date give...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: I accept the point. I still believe that some general guidance on things like price gouging would be useful in the marketplace because people's behaviour is enforced not just by being arraigned before court on grounds of offences but if they know what is socially acceptable and if others around them can see unacceptable behaviour, that acts as a check and the commission could provide some...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (22 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: 15. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the projections for the annual collection of funds under an auto enrolment pension scheme; if it is proposed to deploy these funds for specific purposes; and if not, will they be managed in a particular way. [14875/22]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Dublin Airport Authority (22 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: 173. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to a proposal by the Dublin Airport Authority to impose a drop-off charge for persons being brought to the airport in a private vehicle; if this action requires Government approval; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14039/22]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Electric Vehicles (22 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: 267. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has decided on the BIK rules which will be applied to electric vehicles after the current exemption expires; if he will ensure that the lower environmental impact continues to be reflected in the BIK burden; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14638/22]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy - Ambition and Challenge: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: I thank Mr. Keating for the excellent presentation. This is a significant export opportunity, as he rightly outlined, and it is pan-European infrastructure we are building. I have a few basic questions. Who are our competitors in respect of delivering Europe's needs in this sphere? How should the cost be shared for the development of a pan-European infrastructural project of this nature?...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy - Ambition and Challenge: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: I did but I am happy if the Chairman is constrained.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy - Ambition and Challenge: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: It is not surprising that I come from a rather different perspective. In this uncertain world, when we are trying to cope with extreme contingencies and when there are uncertainties around big, upfront costs as well as infant technologies, it is extremely important we design the market well. I have heard from nearly everyone who spoke that the market is poorly designed to deliver what we...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: It would be nice to believe the Government could absorb all the energy impact or that energy companies could be forced to absorb it but, in a small, open economy such as ours, that is fairyland talk. Could we see an immediate activation of economic resilience measures, among them an activation of the 1 million smart meters, only 40,000 of which have been activated; reasserting remote working...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (10 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: 87. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will consider taking an initiative along with the Ministers for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and Rural and Community Development to develop a strategy to promote the concept of a campus on which early childhood needs, education and other community needs could be accommodated a measure which might require her...

Proposal for a Council Decision on Hate Speech and Hate Crime: Motion (9 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: I fully support the move here and this refinement of EU law is very welcome. This is a transnational crime, and particularly with Europe in a time of war, it is really important we are sensitive to the way in which difference, vulnerabilities and hostilities can be blown out of all proportion. That said, the criminal bar is very high and we must often look elsewhere for the drivers of what...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Impact of Brexit on Trade in Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: We should congratulate both enterprises and the agencies for the way in which the calamity we all feared has been avoided. It shows extraordinary resilience for a country that is the most export-exposed and the most energy-exposed country in Europe that we have been able to demonstrate the adaptability to deal with Covid-19 and Brexit. Now we face into another challenge. What do both...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (8 Mar 2022)

Richard Bruton: 237. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is monitoring the price of starter homes in Dublin city; if he is satisfied that the ceiling of house prices for local authority loans at €320,000 is providing purchasers qualifying for this loan with a sufficient range of homes to purchase particularly in the coming year when the new sources of affordable homes...