Results 1,941-1,960 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: COP27: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I did not say anything about windfall taxes. I am all for windfall taxes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: COP27: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I am all for solidarity taxes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: COP27: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: We are talking about different things.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: COP27: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I thank Mr. McLoughlin for the presentation. Before he came in, he probably heard how loss and damage had only been adopted by one country, Denmark. Is this a new announcement today that it is a key priority for Ireland? We also heard that Irish aid had plateaued in recent years and that we seem to have stalled in moving towards the commitment to €225 million. It seems to me that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: COP27: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: Is loss and damage different from adaptation? I thought loss and damage is not where you have to mitigate a particular fossil emission or adapt to a particular risk; it is more about dealing with real crises, such as in the Horn of Africa, and involves a whole new category of aid.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: COP27: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: Are you saying these are harmful subsidies then? That is the difficulty.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Youth Perspectives on the Circular Economy and COP27, including Climate Justice and Energy: Discussion (21 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I thank our guests for their submissions. I admired not only their passion but also their focus on practical action. That is important. They are largely speaking to the converted in this room. What creates problems for the ambition that this committee shares is that among voters, only 6% regard climate as one of the top priorities for them when it comes to voting. That is an extremely...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sentencing Policy (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I will be interested to hear from the Minister what reporting on sentencing policy is provided to the Judiciary, the Minister and the wider public and her intentions in relation to changes in sentencing policy in particular areas.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sentencing Policy (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I welcome those changes. Among the most damaging impacts on people are the root of hate crime and the sorts of things that happen through social media, on which we are probably not up to speed. On a more general point, in policy spheres that I know quite a bit about, sunlight is the best disinfectant. It is disappointing to hear that we are not getting accountability for the consistency...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sentencing Policy (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I welcome that. It is wrong to try to make decisions on appropriate sentencing entirely in the dark in relation to what is happening already in the courts. It is important that we inject urgency into achieving consistency by judges and in the guidelines issued to them, as well as the report back on that. Until we have made the transition from paper to digital, we should introduce an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Priorities (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I am happy with the Minister's reply. Consistency of sentencing remains a problem but I realise there are limits to what a Minister can do in respect of decisions taken by courts.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Antisocial Behaviour (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: 6. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the trends in antisocial behaviour since the end of Covid that require changes in the policy approaches taken by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51943/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Antisocial Behaviour (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: Since Covid, a lot of people feel antisocial behaviour has rapidly deteriorated, has shifted its pattern and is perhaps even worse than it was pre Covid. What are the trends in what is being reported to the Minister? What innovative approaches is the Minister considering in this regard? She has outlined some of them already.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Antisocial Behaviour (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I am very heartened by the approach the Minister and the Garda have taken on O'Connell Street with the new Garda station, the extra presence and the role of wardens. New York adopted a broken windows strategy when there was a problem there that was quite deep-seated. It involved real-time information and everyone working together and being accountable on a close to daily basis. Is that a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Antisocial Behaviour (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: The key to using real-time information is that people are accountable. As I understand it, the key to the success of the strategy in New York was that when dereliction appeared or when things were broken, they were quickly repaired. There was a commitment by other bodies to respond, not just a policing commitment, although that is of course welcome. That has a bearing on a lot of our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Priorities (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I would be interested in learning of the Minister's priorities. What I hear from ordinary members of the public is frustration in respect of appropriate and consistent sentencing, support for the position of victims in the system and the need to embed the multi-agency approach she has been successfully rolling out in a number of particularly difficult communities. I would like that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Priorities (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: I am heartened by the Minister's response. The speed of implementation will be the issue. I will ask her about other issues I am concerned about. There is still a sense among the public that appropriate and consistent sentencing is not a feature. It causes immense upset to feel that some serious cases are not treated seriously enough by the courts while the opposite occurs in other cases....

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Prevention (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: 52. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will indicate the learnings to date from the pilot initiatives in the new approach to community policing; and the implications they have for the roll-out of the approach nationwide. [51942/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: 127. To ask the Minister for Health if the manpower planning exercise for Ireland's health service needs has identified the most immediate gaps to be filled and the longer-term needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51945/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (20 Oct 2022)

Richard Bruton: 144. To ask the Minister for Health if he will indicate the new capacity planned for the coming year in clearing waiting lists within the public system and through the NTPF; the estimated number of additional outpatient first-time consultations and the number of additional procedures which will be facilitated in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51944/22]