Results 5,881-5,900 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (26 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: Under a Commitment Agreement signed with my Department in April 2017, eir is in the process of passing 300,000 predominantly rural homes with high speed broadband. According to data for Q4 2018 submitted by eir to my Department the company has passed almost 225,000 premises nationwide as part of its ongoing deployment. These premises are in the LIGHT BLUE area of my Department’s High...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (26 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: The premises referred to by the Deputy is in the AMBER area on the National Broadband Plan (NBP) High Speed Broadband Map, which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie. The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP. As the Deputy will be aware, the procurement process to appoint a bidder for the State intervention...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Reports (26 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: I refer to the reply to Question No. 524 of 12 March 2019. The position is unchanged.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (26 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: The first National Waste Characterisation study in ten years was published by the EPA in December, 2018. The report provides a very important insight on our waste management practices and will prove invaluable in terms of supporting current and future waste policy decisions. The report further highlights areas where improvements can and must be made if we are to keep achieving our targets...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (26 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: This Government is committed to leading the way in reducing single use plastics and is working both at a national and European level to tackle the problem. The government has: - Agreed that Government Departments and bodies will not purchase single-use plastic cups, cutlery and straws - Strongly supported new EU legislation on Single Use Plastics (SUP), which will ban straws, cotton bud...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Change Policy (26 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: I am currently preparing an All of Government Climate Plan which will set out the actions which must be taken to make Ireland a leader in responding to climate change. I am working with colleagues across Government to develop new initiatives across electricity, transport and heat, as well as a range of other sectors. The All of Government Plan will have a strong focus on implementation,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Change Policy (26 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: The preparation of a consolidated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) is a requirement under the Governance Regulation of the Energy Union and Climate Action which brings together for the first time energy and climate planning and reporting requirements into a single national reporting framework. Member States were given a template for the Plan as part of the Regulation and had to submit...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Postal Services (26 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: The Government made €30m available in State funding to An Post in 2017 to support the renewal of the post office network (€15m) and the continued fulfilment of a 5 day per week mails delivery service (€15m). As An Post is a commercial State body, this support was provided by way of a loan. In 2018, Government funding of €80,000 was allocated for the ‘Digital...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Commission for Regulation of Utilities (13 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: Under this scheme, we give a premium payment on the basis that high-efficiency combined heat and power is delivered. A biomass combustion generating electricity would get a much lower rate of electricity pricing if it did not meet certain criteria setting it aside as high-efficiency combined heat and power, displacing fossil fuels and so on. That is the basis on which the premium is payable...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Commission for Regulation of Utilities (13 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: I acknowledge that Deputy Calleary and indeed Senator Mulherin have been in touch with me on a number of occasions about this. There is a great degree of concern in Mayo about this project and I fully acknowledge that. Deputy Calleary acknowledges in his comments that this is an entirely independent regulator and it is independent under EU legislation. That is the essence of the...

Seanad: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2019: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: I thank Senators for raising the issue. There is no doubt that the single electricity market is an important asset, North and South, which allows us to share generation, reducing the need for expensive standby generation in each jurisdiction. It is the only fully integrated single electricity market in the European Union, which to some degree is why we do not need to do anything as there is...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Electric Vehicles (13 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 286 and 287 together. Home charging is the primary method of charging for the majority of electric vehicles both internationally and in Ireland. Charging at home at night is the most cost-effective and eco-friendly way to charge an electric vehicle. Given the high proportion of homes with driveways and dedicated parking spaces, Ireland has greater capacity for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Funding (13 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 288 and 289 together. Details of funding provided for projects or programmes in Counties Galway and Roscommon by my Department in the years 2016 to date in 2019 are outlined in the following table. Project name Funding amount provided Has funding been allocated/drawn down? County (Galway/Roscommon) By year (2016-2019 to date) East Galway Landfill...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland Funding (13 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) administers the Deep Retrofit Pilot scheme on behalf of my Department. The Deep Retrofit Pilot Scheme, a three year pilot which began in 2017, is investigating how to create a scalable offering for the deep retrofit of Ireland’s housing stock, while building consumer demand as well as contractor capacity for deep retrofit. Under...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Implementation (13 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: The premises referred to by the Deputy is in the AMBER area on the National Broadband Plan (NBP) High Speed Broadband Map, which is available on my Department's website at . The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP. This intervention is the subject of an ongoing procurement process. The procurement process to appoint a bidder for the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadcasting Sector (13 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: In light of the recommendations in the Report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action & Environment Report on Future Funding of Public Service Broadcasting, the Working Group on the Future Funding of Public Service Broadcasting was set up by Government decision in July 2018 to examine options for the reform of TV licence collection. The Group's work is...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadcasting Legislation (13 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: The proposed amendment to the Broadcasting, Act 2009 is currently at an advanced drafting stage. My Department continues to work closely with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in order to progress this work with a view to having the Broadcasting Bill published in Q2 this year. The matters in this amendment are complex and as such it is important that proper due diligence is done and...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Just a couple of months ago I allocated €10 million to ESB, which will be 50% of the cost of extending the electric vehicle charger network. The network the ESB proposes to put in place will support 40,000 vehicles. We currently have about 10,000. We are planning to have headroom, and in the plan I will be looking beyond that. There is...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: We have seen a large increase in the number of homes getting access to broadband under the NBP. There has been an increase from about 50% to 75%. There are a number of ways of dealing with this issue. There is a remaining issue, as the Deputy knows, with what is called the intervention area. That is the area where it is not commercially viable to provide a service. A tender has been...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (12 Mar 2019)

Richard Bruton: A review of "A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland" will commence this year. 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 process will inform the development of...