Results 161-180 of 2,867 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: It is a measure of availability or uptime, of whether the machine can be used. The error message is sometimes misleading, in that it can say that the machine is broken when it is actually just full or needs paper to print receipts. The Deputy is asking how we can go from 86% to 95%, which is the normal amount. First, the retailers are on a learning curve about how frequently they have to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: This will help. On 1 June, it will be illegal to display a product on the shelf or to offer a product for sale that does not have the logo on it. Currently, we are in a period when businesses can keep selling off their old stock. On 1 June, though, every drink we buy, from 150 ml in size to 3 l, has to be returnable. That will make it a much simpler-to-understand scheme and create less of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The machines in my local supermarket are in every language, including Irish. I have spoken to Re-turn and asked it to ensure that the machines are working in Irish as well as the other languages commonly used in Ireland.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I do not have an overall picture. The Deputy raises a reasonable point. We fund local authorities' anti-dumping initiatives. We provide more than €3 million a year. I can ask the local authorities to report back to me on the volume of material they are removing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: One of the things we did last year was that, on 1 July, I brought in a rule requiring all commercial facilities to have a biowaste bin. Up to then, a large proportion of businesses simply had one residual waste bin and were not segregating their waste at all. They are all now required to segregate. Second, on 1 January, I made it mandatory for all waste collectors to offer brown bins to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Definitely. Thank you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I will address the Deputy's question about the deposit return scheme and his constituent who found that most of his containers were rejected. This is an aspect of the transition period, when retailers can still sell products that do not have a deposit logo on them. The two elements of customer dissatisfaction are bottles being rejected and having to bring them home and, second, the machine...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: It is currently the law that manufacturers must provide spare parts. The Deputy told me that he could not find a part for his fridge-freezer. I do not know how old his fridge-freezer was but for current products, manufacturers must provide spare parts and service manuals. The Ecodesign Directive came in a few months ago. As I do not have those details to hand, I can send the Deputy the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Does the Chair mean a community anaerobic digester?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: It is already happening. FoodCloud and organisations like that are all about building networks of people who have something they do not want and people who want it in return, whether they want it as feedstock for their anaerobic digestion or as food they can eat. FoodCloud's technology platform is about connecting people who are in surplus with people who are in deficit and in matching...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: If anyone is interested in any social enterprise and wants to try doing anaerobic digestion locally in their community, they can apply to do it through the circular economy innovation grant scheme and we will consider that.

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: These amendments create a new Chapter 1 to the new Part 4 within the Gas (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill. These provide for the transfer of Maritime Area Planning Act functions from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. They preserve work completed to date on the south coast DMAP. The...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: That is a very reasonable point. I am glad the committee met with the Department to discuss this. The Government is aware it is critical there are sufficient staffing resources to provide for this new function, the designation of specific DMAPs, and that An Bord Pleanála has sufficient staff to carry out its function. It needs a whole set of new staff who have the qualifications and...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: These amendments create a new Chapter 2 of the new Part 4 within the Gas (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill. These directly amend the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 to remedy issues related to the making of the south coast offshore renewable energy designated maritime area plan, DMAP, in the absence of a statutory marine planning policy statement and provide a mechanism allowing...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Amendments Nos. 1 to 9 are technical amendments that relate to the Title and citation. The Long Title is changed to reflect the inclusion of the transfer of maritime area planning functions from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, certain arrangements relating to the making of the marine planning policy...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputies for their comments. The decision to transfer these functions was taken by the Government at a meeting on 20 December 2023 and this is the earliest opportunity to enact that decision. It was introduced in the Seanad in previous weeks and debated there. It is a transfer of functions from one Department to another, the same as the rest of this legislation, which is also a...

Disability Justice: Motion [Private Members] (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputies for all their contributions. First, I wish to address a point raised by Deputy Mattie McGrath. He asked about people who lose their medical cards after taking up employment. This matter was also raised by other Deputies. I reassure Deputies that if people take up work, they can retain their medical cards for three years. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has sought...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Childcare Services (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. Ensuring that high-quality early learning and childcare is affordable and accessible to all children, in particular children from vulnerable backgrounds, is a key priority for the Government. Data from the latest annual early years sector profile from last summer estimated that 14,088 children were enrolled in early learning and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Childcare Services (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I take the Senator’s point that the matching of demand and supply has to be very local and that applies in a county which has large distances between different towns and villages but investment in early learning and childcare services has quadrupled in the last nine years. It went from €260 million in 2015 to €1.1 billion this year. That increased investment has focused...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health Services (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The provision of proper, appropriate and integrated gender healthcare services is something that the Minister, Deputy Donnelly is anxious to see put in place for persons who are questioning their gender identity or are experiencing gender incongruence or gender dysphoria. The Minister has previously acknowledged that they do not currently have access to that in Ireland and that he is...