Results 6,741-6,760 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Implementation (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location.  The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. In 2012, less than 700,000, or 30% of all 2.3 million Irish premises had access to high speed broadband.  When this Government came...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Implementation (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: In April 2017 my Department published an updated High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan. The Map is colour coded and searchable by address/eircode: - The AMBER...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The 2014 Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan (OREDP) sets out the Government’s policy for the sustainable development of our offshore renewable energy resources. Offshore renewable energy covers a number of technology types and includes wind (fixed and floating), wave and tidal, all of which rely on harnessing the motion of wind or water to generate energy.  Of these...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Official Development Assistance (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has allocated a sum of €1,958,341 to two recipients to date in 2018 on official development assistance (ODA) and details of the recipients are outlined in the table below. In addition, a sum of €2.5m has been set aside for International Climate Commitments and the recipients of this particular funding, which is also classed as ODA, will be decided on in the coming...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Metropolitan Area Networks Programme (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: Metropolitan Area Networks (“MANs”) are local authority-led infrastructure projects which are State owned, underground telecommunications networks that are located in regional cities and towns.  They consist of carrier-neutral duct and fibre rings linking the main commercial and public buildings to “co-location centres” where service providers locate their...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Communications Market Regulation (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment has a broad remit and is responsible for communications, broadcasting, postal services, energy, natural resources, climate change, waste management, air quality and environmental policy.  The day-to-day functions of the Department and of the Minister in carrying out this remit, therefore, involve engagement with a...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Implementation (6 Nov 2018)

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 Q3 2018 submitted by eir to my Department the company has passed almost 210,000 premises nationwide as part of its ongoing deployment. This data is to be published on my Department’s website...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: North-South Implementation Bodies (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Loughs Agency (of the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission) is a North-South body for which my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland are the joint sponsors.  The Agency is funded via both Departments on a 50/50 basis. My Department's portion of the Loughs Agency’s annual allocation is included in...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Commissions of Investigation Data (6 Nov 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has not incurred any expenditure in relation to carrying out commissions of investigation and State inquiries in 2018.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Bord na Móna (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: We have no intention of allowing the midlands to become a rust belt. I was the Minister who introduced regional action plans. It was the first time ever the State developed bottom-up regional enterprise plans for which we allocated €250 million in regional enterprise funds. That was the first time we had such a concerted approach. Under that, we have established an implementation...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Bord na Móna (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. I recognise the concern that all Deputies have expressed about the potential impact of this on affected families. Bord na Móna is a commercial State company with a mandate to develop the midlands region, and I believe it is taking the appropriate steps now, in a timely way, to set out a strategy that takes into account its obligation to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for the Bill. This issue is part of the Government's digital strategy and we are keen to work with the committee in this area. I have a little experience in this area from the work I was doing in the Department of Education and Skills. For example, we required all schools to consult parents regarding the use of smartphones in schools. Some 87% of primary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: To answer Deputy Ó Laoghaire directly, there is clearly a regulatory task to be done if we are moving from self-regulation to a system of oversight. Someone needs to oversee this, as has been clear from everything I said. The Deputy is correct to anticipate that this will go beyond criminal offences. There is already a liability for criminal offences and a responsibility to remove...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: In our desire to show that the Oireachtas is serious about online safety, we need to be careful because setting up some central body is not always the correct approach. It is important for the regulatory task that we have someone who regulates and delivers on that. It is not necessarily true, however, that we need to put a sign on someone's door and then state that is where people go if...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: To get anything done, what is needed is the authority, budget and will to do it. What the Taoiseach would do is enforce the will of the Departments to do it. In regard to the other two elements of money and powers, these are set out in the NCCA and the budgets allocated to the Departments of Education and Skills and Justice and Equality. Getting things done requires having the tools of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: Advisory would be fine but execution and co-ordination is for somewhere else.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to reassure Deputies that Bord na Móna is taking its responsibilities very seriously and has put forward a series of enterprise initiatives that will develop alternative employment. This takes into account the fact that there is a decline, as Deputy Cowen said, as a result of decarbonisation, which has been widely recognised. As Deputy Cowen also indicated, there will be an...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Funding (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Government allocated an initial €275 million in the Capital Plan published in September 2015, for the initial years of the network build-out for the National Broadband Plan State intervention. The €275m represented an initial stimulus, in the knowledge that significant further funding will be required over the lifetime of the proposed 25 year contract. The total State...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Funding (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004 provides that a maximum of up to 10% of the capital envelopes of each Vote may be carried over to the following year, subject to the approval of the Oireachtas and an Order from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Voted allocations which remain unspent at the end of the financial year must be surrendered to the Exchequer, with the exception...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Service Provision (25 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The premises referred to by the Deputy is in the AMBER area on the High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website atwww.broadband.gov.ie.The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process. The procurement process to appoint a bidder for the State intervention network is...