Results 5,081-5,100 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: That is correct.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: We support the EU move to achieve a 2050 reduction but we need to evaluate what that will mean for Ireland and whether we can also commit at a national level to a similar reduction. That work will be done over the remainder of the year but we are joining the coalition to see this ambition set. We must consider the technology that we can be reasonably sure about, and we do not have that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: I understand that there are a number of ongoing pieces of work on the concept of agricultural evolution and land use development. Part of it came from the climate advisory committee and Mr. John FitzGerald is undertaking work in this area. The Department is also committing to engage with all stakeholders, not just the farming stakeholders, to evolve what it describes as a roadmap. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: Public transport does not represent an effective substitute for a great deal of the travel and transport that generates a carbon impact. That is part of the problem we face. When we looked at and got the professional advice on the degree to which modal shift would contribute, the unfortunate answer was that the contribution of modal shift to the reduction of carbon emissions will be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: The difficulty I have with Deputy Smith is not her commitment but that she applies the same old ideology to every new problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: It simply will not resolve the challenges that we face here. The Deputy said that there is no help to do anything except to go to financial institutions and then she made a pitch for an adjustment of the means test on a scheme that provides 100% assistance to people in fuel poverty to do exactly what the Deputy is asking for. There is clearly State support to help people. Some 32,000 homes...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: The Senator is right that the development of a park-and-ride strategy will have to examine air quality and other issues such as location, traffic management and so on. There is no doubt that park and ride and, as mentioned by Deputy Eamon Ryan, car-sharing, can contribute. This is a low-cost way of delivering change. All of these alternatives need to be developed. This plan is open to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: Some buses that were ordered last year are being delivered this year. From 1 July, however, no new diesel-only buses will be ordered. Any of the buses that are being bought at the moment are replacing buses that have a far worse carbon and air quality impact. As we move towards electric vehicles, one of the advantages, apart from the carbon, will be the reduction of the air pollution that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for the acknowledgment of some of the good recommendations in the report. The Deputy is asking the same question Deputy Eamon Ryan asked earlier, that is, whether we are we leaving too much for the 2030 to 2050 period. I will give the Deputy the same answer. We do not have the same certainty around the costs and the choices in technologies needed to make to make those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: It is right to be more cautious about some of the technologies. My understanding of the position on biogas is that there is more work to be done to prove its contribution and the timing at which it should come in.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: There is a commitment that the ETBs will take an active role in trying to develop these skills bottlenecks. They are already doing it. I ask employers who are having difficulty to come forward and take up the apprenticeships. When I was in that Department we were evolving new and old apprenticeships but not enough employers were coming forward to support them. Employers need to recognise...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: I welcome the support, passion and insight of the Senator on this issue because it is not easy and she rightly homed in on community acceptance. We are seeking to do several things to build that up. One is that every public body, such as local authorities and the HSE, is being asked to adopt a climate change mandate. I hope that public leaders in every community will adopt a strategy and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: There is a profile for every programme-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: There is a profile for every theme. Where demand runs ahead of profile, there must be some constraints to manage within the available money. That is the reality.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: If the Senator wishes to send me the details of the case to which she refers-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: -----I will assess it. On agriculture, at one level, the UN recognises that we must seek climate abatement without jeopardising food production. It is absolutely in the interests of Irish family farms for farmers to continue to drive on change to reduce the carbon impact of what they are doing and look at all of the options they can adopt to do that. In the long term, that will secure...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: We hope to deliver the Bill to which the Deputy referred in the first quarter of next year. We will strive to be as effective as possible in order to deliver that. We have sought to reflect the recommendations of the committee. There is a commitment in the area of rural transport. Of course, this is only a starting point and we will evolve the strategy over time. This is the start, not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: As in every sector, there will be a mix of incentives and new standards will be evolved over time. That is the direction in which we are moving in every sector. In order to future-proof the farming sector, just like every other sector, we need to see new standards becoming common practice. Currently, we may only have pioneers, as the Deputy rightly said. There are many pioneers doing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: I do not have that information. This plan only came off the printing press on Monday, having received Government agreement to these initiatives, which we now need to move to implement.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (19 Jun 2019)

Richard Bruton: It is my understanding that is the direction of travel. I am not the Minister with responsibility for forestry. We have a commitment to double the rate of planting. There is a move, as I understand it, to have much more mixed planting. There is a recognition that new policy instruments will need to evolve. There will be stakeholder engagement to ascertain what those might involve. The...