Results 1,021-1,040 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with Chairperson of the Health and Safety Authority (25 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: I am thinking about the waste stream and building is a good example. Only 11% of material thrown out is even recycled let alone recovered into reuse streams. Reuse is something less than 1%. Unfortunately we do not have a high health and safety standard in construction. As far as materials handling goes, we might have good practice but it is not a sustainable practice. This is not a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with Chairperson of the Health and Safety Authority (25 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: Does Ms Byron want to comment on remote working? It is a real and present issue. We are all working in home environments now. Who has responsibility? What is the role of the HSA? It is hardly going into a home.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with Chairperson of the Health and Safety Authority (25 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: How is the HSA tackling it now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with Chairperson of the Health and Safety Authority (25 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: Are we in a good place or are we in a catch-up?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with Chairperson of the Health and Safety Authority (25 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: I think I have exhausted my time. If I may ask two final questions, what are the HSA's KPIs? I do not mean for Ms Byron to go through them now but I would be interested to see what KPIs the authority follows. On the issue of high-risk settings, how does the HSA deploy its inspectors to make sure it is going to them? Is there a fairly sophisticated model of risk assessment and deployment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with Chairperson of Enterprise Ireland (25 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: First, I congratulate Mr. Carey on his appointment and wish him very well. Like Deputy Stanton I thank him for bringing his very substantial range of skills to bear on this. I would also like to join Mr. Carey in thanking Terence O'Rourke for his service before him. According to the back of my envelope, in his time, employment in Enterprise Ireland companies went from 140,000 to 220,000,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with Chairperson of Enterprise Ireland (25 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: Food production, Mr. Carey's own sector, may not have a name for having a high impact but if we look at food waste, the food supply chain and methods of food production, the truth is it has a much greater impact on biodiversity, climate and so on than is often thought. We need to look at these supply chains and consider original strategies and good opportunities to ask how sustainable our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Cathaoirleach for the promotion. I thank the witnesses for the presentation. On one level, I am quite frustrated in that it sounds like an awful lot more research will be done before any of the models they are talking about can be delivered. Given the sense of urgency, the best is the enemy of the good. I suppose my question is: can we start straightaway? Are there shadow...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: On a point of clarity, is Mr. Owens saying the NBP comes under the taxonomy or does it not?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: Is that because the taxonomy came after it or is it something that will happen as we go along?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: More generally, what we heard earlier was essentially a critique of the way our investment decisions are made. It was said that the models we use are too reductive and that we are not looking at the systemic or strategic challenge that issues like biodiversity and climate present. It is inherently incremental, as opposed to looking at whether we require a significant shift in policy. How...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: However, if we are not able to apply the taxonomy to most of our projects, how do we find a route?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: The State is the company we are talking about here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: The dilemma seems to be that in most of the frameworks we are trying to address, be they related to land use, river catchment or whatever system we are trying to examine, we do not have the tools under the present model and cannot offer a price or reward for the sort of thing we want to change. In saying the taxonomy will incrementally address this matter, will we have missed the opportunity...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: Are we not leaning on a reed to some extent if we expect the private sector and its demand for green bonds to shift the State's approach to big systemic challenges?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: I will come back in on one thing. It seems that some of the big opportunities include river catchments, forestry, peat wetlands and I am sure there are others. Those are off the top of my head. How do they stack up at the moment as regards getting into the sort of framework that will see fast track of investment for them? It seems from what we have heard that there is a great deal of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: Are they coming fast enough for us to feel confident?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: Essentially, what the citizens' assembly has presented us with, which is no surprise, is that this is a crisis situation. It does sound like those things are quite technical and complicated. As Mr. Owens identifies, when we drill down into a particular catchment, it is difficult to say exactly where the benefits and costs lie, and the risk is that they will want to grind so fine that we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: My very last question is whether Mr. Owens sees a role for State agencies. I know there has been a lot of criticism of Coillte and other State boards. It has been said that their mandate is not correct. On the other hand, if we want to see substantial private money coming in under some of these programmes, I cannot see anyone else providing the level of verification and oversight. When...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (24 Oct 2023)

Richard Bruton: 102. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is aware of persons who were allowed to remain long-term on illness benefit when restricted duration was first introduced, but who now on reaching retirement age, find that the required paid stamps have increased to 520 paid stamps, and thus have no pension rights, whereas persons on invalidity pension who also have...