Results 2,181-2,200 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Senator Mullen raised an interesting point about transparency over international lobbying. He made the point that both liberals and conservatives alike may be concerned about interference from a left-wing or a right-wing group in another country. While that is an interesting debate to have and I want to have it, it does not relate to the amendment. Senator Higgins pointed out the risk of a...

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Before I start, I wish to answer a question that Senator Boylan asked earlier about section (4)(b), which amends section 5 of the principal Act. This provision makes two technical amendments. They are needed by the insertion of new paragraphs (d) and (e) into section 5(2) of the principal Act. The final amendment brings certain informal business groups, which themselves have no full-time...

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator Boylan. I was not aware that there are separate rules for the lobbying of the tobacco industry, so I thank her for telling me that. I will consider that, and if the Senator wants to introduce amendments on Report Stage, I will consider them on the basis of that.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Waste Management (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: A range of measures are already in place to support greater levels of waste segregation and recycling and other measures will soon be introduced. The landfill levy is an important and highly successful such measure which has played an important part in Ireland’s improved waste performance since its introduction in 2002. The Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Waste Management (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I appreciate that many people were shocked when one of the largest waste collectors introduced a charge for something for which it had previously not been charging. Nobody wishes to pay for something they previously did not pay for. The Deputy asked how I intend to maximise compost and recyclable waste. I do not wish to maximise compost and recyclable waste. I wish to minimise it. The...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Waste Management (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: There is a group that did exist before I was appointed, namely, the price monitoring group. Its job is to examine the market and see if changes are needed. I have asked the group to reform. It includes an economist, people from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and consumer experts. They have been asked to play the role of mystery shopper to find out what the prices are on the market...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Illegal Dumping (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Local authorities are responsible for municipal waste collection and waste management planning within their functional areas. The obligations on local authorities relating to collecting household waste are set out in section 33 of the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended. In summary, it provides that each local authority shall collect, or arrange for the collection of, household waste...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Illegal Dumping (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Deputy Gould makes the point that although local authorities have the right to collect the waste themselves if they want to do so, and that it is their choice, he is saying they do not have the funding. Local authorities set their own local property taxes and commercial rates levels. If they want to raise funding to run their own waste collection services, they can do. They also have the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Illegal Dumping (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The council lost a huge quantity of money on waste collection and does not want to go back there.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Illegal Dumping (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I was in Cork city last year meeting Cork City Council and the waste collectors, the people who collect the waste themselves, so that I could get a good input, in particular on dumping. I was not aware that there was a problem with anti-dumping initiatives being focused on wealthier areas. I will look into it. That is not the point of it. We are introducing CCTV very shortly to catch...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for this question which I am very happy to answer. The Government of Ireland's national digital strategy, NDS, Harnessing Digital - The Digital Ireland Framework, is helping to drive the digital transition across the economy and society. Its ambition is to make connectivity available to everyone, including through the national broadband plan, remote...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: It is a seven-year project. It started in 2020 and it will end at the end of 2026. That is the seven years. If you are in year six or seven, you are probably not happy and you would prefer to be in earlier years. There was a move towards acceleration at the start, then the project went slow during the pandemic and for various reasons it then began to accelerate. We are now passing our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Our national strategy is for everybody in Ireland to have gigabit Internet by 2028. On the current timelines, everybody in rural Ireland will have it by 2026. Our rural deployment is going well. I am responsible for broadband across the whole of Ireland and not just the intervention area. I need to make sure we are not leaving black-spot islands in our urban areas. Just because you are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Recently we completed research into the benefits of broadband in rural Ireland. Analysys Mason completed it for us to check we are meeting our cost-benefit. The cost-benefit of the project has greatly improved since it was first evaluated. It clearly was, in retrospect, the right thing to do. It has the following effect, in simple terms. A rural village would previously have hoped for...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (27 Apr 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) state led intervention is being delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract, signed in November 2019 which came into effect in January 2020. The contract provides for the roll out of a high speed and future-proofed broadband network within the intervention area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in over 560,000 premises,...

Support for Household Energy Bills: Motion [Private Members] (3 May 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Thank you.

Support for Household Energy Bills: Motion [Private Members] (3 May 2023)

Ossian Smyth: No.

Support for Household Energy Bills: Motion [Private Members] (3 May 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "acknowledges the Government's response to the significant increases in energy prices for households and businesses due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine; notes that: — the European Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 provides for a cap on market revenues in the electricity...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Energy Prices (17 May 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I also welcome all the guests to the Seanad for this debate. I thank Senator Boylan for raising this issue. I wish to report on further measures the Government is taking to enable consumers to become more involved in and aware of their own energy usage. At an EU level, the REPowerEU programme calls for much more citizen engagement with the clean energy transition to empower citizens to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Energy Prices (17 May 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The Senator is asking not how many people are working in demand-side reduction but how many people are working on reducing demand.