Results 2,001-2,020 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The overarching goal we are trying to achieve in transferring functions is to ensure all the responsibility to reduce emissions does not remain with a single Minister. Climate change and emissions reduction are not considered to be solely the responsibility of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. That is why we are transferring functions and saying to all Ministers...

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I have just consulted my departmental staff. They would be happy to brief the Senator on that.

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am going to speak to amendments Nos. 2, 3, 6 and 18 together. I examined these proposals carefully to understand their implications because I appreciate what the Senators are trying to achieve, but I do not propose to accept them. The Bill provides that the Minister for Transport, in making the regulations under sections 44D, 44G(1B) and 44GA, shall consult the Minister for the...

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I note the Senator's consideration of the potential for biodiversity and other public health impacts within the context of debate on renewable transport fuels, and I believe these considerations have already been provided for in the drafting of the Bill. In sections 44G(1B) and 44GA, it provides that the Minister for Transport “may have regard to such other matters as he or she...

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: These are technical amendments to section 11 to resolve a formatting issue in the labelling of subsections within the section. They are minor drafting corrections within the Bill to ensure clarity. They have been remedied with the assistance of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, for which I am grateful.

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator for her amendment. I appreciate what she is seeking to achieve, but I do not propose to accept the amendment. This is an oil emergency Bill, and section 21 amends the National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 in the context of planning for and responding to an oil emergency. Although there is merit in requiring oil companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions as well as...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: On Second Stage, Senator Horkan mentioned that he is unhappy with the term “high-risk vendor”. The criteria comes from the EU toolbox, which uses the phrase “high-risk supplier”, and that is the origin of our terminology. During the passage of the Bill through the Dáil and Seanad, some Deputies and Senators requested that the term “high-risk...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am not proposing to accept this amendment. The Minister routinely consults with the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, during the making of regulations which have relevance to its work. The Department and ComReg have a productive and contrastive relationship in this regard. However, mandating the Minister to consult ComReg in all instances where regulations can be made...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: It is crystal clear to me that in one section one has to consult and in the other section one does not. I do not think the two sections are in conflict with each other. I understand what Senator Higgins is saying that one part applies to the entirety of the Act; it does not say that one must not consult. There is simply one section where consultation is necessary and another section where...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am not accepting this amendment. It would curtail the Minister's power to make regulations necessary for the functioning of this regime. The primary reason for which we expect the Minister to make regulations is in respect of the adjudication regime to be established under Part 7. These regulations are procedural in nature but they are important in providing the nuts and bolts that will...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: We are waiting for a response from the European Court of Justice for a hearing date and we do not know how much it would fine us, what the amount would be or how many days it would be dated to. We are in a situation where we were advised that we could not transpose this legislation through statutory instrument. It is normally done through secondary legislation but because the adjudication...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: It is 21 December 2020.

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: We are considerably late.

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: This amendment fixes a simple typographical error.

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: This is not novel legislation. We are not starting to do this here. This approach was taken with the Competition (Amendment) Act 2022. There are considerable similarities between the Bill and that legislation. Section 18 covers a broad suite of decisions, including appeals, namely: appeals against all regulatory decisions of ComReg under the European Union (Electronic Communications Code)...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The situation that currently arises is that a company wishes to supply a service to the public, which the public deserves to receive, but finds it cannot do so because a regulated entity simply uses a large quantity of its cash reserves to frustrate the process in the courts by means of endless appeals, technical moves and so on. For that reason, I believe it is right to apply some kind of...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I propose the deletion of the words "public order" from Part 3 in order to ensure that the Minister will have the high bar of national security as a consideration in regard to security measures when it comes to certain vendors under this Part. As I am proposing this deletion, I do not propose to accept this amendment No. 37 in the name of Senator Higgins.

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am opposing this amendment. There are a number of steps in Part 3 involving decision-making by the Minister in the interests of national security. The Minister may assess at any time the likelihood of a vendor being subjected to interference by a third country and during that assessment he or she may consult with such appropriate persons or request any person to provide information....

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am not accepting this amendment. Senator Higgins describes a situation where a Minister comes into office and does not even know which relevant vendors have had notices written to the operators on them. Section 32 specifically addresses that because it requires ComReg to issue a report to the Minister on the vendors that have been scheduled under the security measures that have been...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: This amendment fixes a typographical issue.