Results 2,361-2,380 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (5 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: We asked for advice on extending the term in either direction. Our constraint is constitutional. Other countries do not have Bunreacht na hÉireann. They have their own constitutional arrangements to make their laws compliant. It is not just the retrospectivity. It is also about property rights within our Constitution, which are very strong. There is a different set of circumstances...

Seanad: Budget 2024 (Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform): Statements (10 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am pleased to have the opportunity to appear before the Seanad to contribute to the debate on budget 2024, which the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform presented to the Dáil earlier today. Budget 2024 is a budget that invests in the country’s future, in its people, in its infrastructure and in its public services. At the same time,...

Seanad: Budget 2024 (Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform): Statements (10 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I will address all the comments I heard in as far as I can. Senator Cummins presented a general view of the budget. This budget is designed to protect people, invest for the future and make investments in infrastructure, our young people and education, which is the most important area in which to invest, and at the same time avoid generating more inflation. We are not used to having...

Financial Resolutions 2023 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (11 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I have the honour of being in charge of the largest capital programme in the State, namely, the national broadband plan, which is bringing fibre broadband to every home, farm and business in rural Ireland. How is the project doing? An extra €136 million has been allocated for this year. Why do I have that extra money? I have it because that project is going at a much faster rate...

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Reporting is incredibly important and essential to transparency. The reporting obligations for this Bill are provided for in section 26(6). That section states that both the audited accounts and report of the Comptroller and Auditor General will be laid before each House of the Oireachtas by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications once they are received from the...

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputies very much for their lyrical contributions. I want to start by clarifying something. Would Deputy Whitmore mind reading out the amendment she has tabled because the numbering on my list is different? Amendment No. 2, which I believe we are on, in my book does not refer to hedging. For absolute clarity, would Deputy Whitmore mind reading out the amendment? I do not...

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The amendment that has been read out is amendment No. 4 in my book but it is the Deputy's amendment No. 2. If it is okay, we are ready to go ahead. All of the Deputies were-----

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: -----speaking on the hedging arrangement so we are all fine here. I thank Deputy Whitmore. We are all clear. I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I thank Deputy Whitmore for tabling the amendment. The cap on market revenues, including the hedging arrangements that pertain to it, is going to apply, as per the Council regulation, from 1 December 2022 to 30 June 2023. It is not...

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I will start by responding to Deputy Whitmore. There is one period specified in this Bill and it applies to the prices that were obtained by generators, to hedging arrangements, to traders and to other intermediaries. The price is to be captured through any of those different mechanisms. I am not sure it would make sense to have a different period for hedging arrangement from the period...

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: All of that money is ring-fenced for-----

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: -----redistribution to energy consumers in a targeted way. That is what it says in the law. We have to redistribute the money we collect. It is a windfall tax based on unfair profits earned by these companies and the money legally has to be ring-fenced and redistributed to those customers who overpaid for their power in the first place. In that sense, it is a very fair and redistributive tax.

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am tempted to address all the points but I will stick to the amendment. To Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, climate action is all about electrification, including electrification of transport and heating. In urban areas there will be district heating, which is not electrification but there is a move towards electrification. Therefore, there needs to be an increased focus on price regulation...

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy for her amendment. As she knows, European law supercedes national legislation. Whatever is in the European law applies and has to apply. The Council regulation states: Member States shall ensure that all surplus revenues resulting from the application of the cap on market revenues are used to finance measures in support of final electricity customers that mitigate the...

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (18 Oct 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I want to thank the Deputies for their remarks. The legislation includes the notion of ring-fencing. It may not use the word "targeted" but it is required to be targeted in law and that is understood. It is not just understood but it is legally enforceable because it is within the EU law. I have outlined to the Deputies the mechanism by which that works. It will be a scheme drawn up by...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Court Accommodation (8 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator for raising this question. I am here on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, who regrets that she cannot be present due to another commitment. I know she wants to provide some clarity on these issues. Construction of a purpose-built family law court complex at Hammond Lane is a key project in the national development plan, NDP. The Hammond Lane complex...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Court Accommodation (8 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The Senator's first question was why the projects were decoupled earlier this year. I do not know the answer to that. I will ask the Minister to get the Senator an answer. I do not have specific information on that. The Senator generally felt that there was no information provided. Maybe she was already aware that the OPW is about to make its planning application in the coming weeks...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Court Accommodation (8 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: It is broad.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Court Accommodation (8 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The second half of a decade is five years. That is the information I have available. I am happy to revert to the Minister if the Senator wants to ask further questions or look for further clarifications from her. That is the information I have.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Family Reunification (8 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I welcome our guests. I thank the Senator for making his case. I am here on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, who unfortunately has another commitment and cannot be here. At the outset, I want to assure the Senator that the Minister and her Department are acutely aware of the grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza and are working with colleagues in the Department of Foreign...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Family Reunification (8 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator. I will revert with his comments to the official, who may be watching right now. If he has not heard this, I will revert to him with the Senator’s comments about the urgency of this particular case. The Minister recognises the importance of international protection recipients and residents in Ireland from outside the EEA having their family members reunited with...