Results 2,421-2,440 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: It is that phenomenon where initially there is a period when people get used to what is involved in drawing it down. Things can take longer than expected. This is multi-annual funding, however. It is not a one-year project. The just transition funding projects are not single-year projects. Rather, they are multi-annual projects. In many cases, it is a timing issue. The applicants do...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: There is, yes.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: SME representative organisations and other organisations, including Irish Small and Medium Employers, ISME, the Small Firms Association, SFA, and IBEC, as well as farmer representation organisations, all have a role in this. Any support we can offer them in terms of information or education in respect of how to get grants and so on would be beneficial. Working through those representative...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The Deputy is hinting at the paradox where something is made more efficient but then people use more of it. It is known as Jevons paradox. A home is retrofitted but then the homeowner turns up the dial or starts wearing a T-shirt while in the house and the same amount of energy is used. The Deputy is asking about the extent to which that is the case. Of course, it is not a 100% effect....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Renewable Energy Generation (21 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator Blaney for asking this question. The Climate Action Plan 2023 sets out a roadmap for taking decisive action to halve our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to reach net zero not later than 2050.To halve our emissions and set ourselves on the road to net zero, we have to deliver, and accelerate where possible, the renewable electricity targets set in the Climate Action Plan...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Renewable Energy Generation (21 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I would like to work with the Senator to find out what is happening in terms of renewable electricity generated in Donegal and what quantity is being generated there. The reason offshore wind is being developed on the east coast before the west coast is twofold: there is a larger population on the east coast and, more importantly, it is easier to put turbines off the east coast because the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: No, but I am happy to answer any questions on the extra moneys being given.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I want to come in briefly on this. Deputy Tóibín asked why it would take longer to renovate a local authority property than a private tenancy. The simple answer is that under legislation most local authority tenants are granted a lifetime tenancy. For local authority tenants, the period of the tenancy is usually far longer on average than a private tenancy and the amount of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy for this question. By way of context, it is important to acknowledge the changes that have been brought about during 2023 to date. Since the renaming of my Department as the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, there has been an enhanced focus and mandate for the delivery of the NDP. In light of this new role, a review of the support structures and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The quantum of our capital investment in this country is unprecedented. Our capital investment is approaching 5% of GNI*. I do not know of any other EU country that is providing that level of investment. At the same time, we are running a surplus, and are right to do so, and some money is being put aside to protect the economy in the event that our corporate taxes turn out to be a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The risk is that we increase capital expenditure beyond where we are now and get nothing in return. If we are in a position of full employment, where there is nobody available to do the work, and we increase the investment into a sector, we may receive back the same quantity of output - in other words, the same number of houses and hospital are built - but prices, wages or costs are pushed...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Budget 2024 (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy for the question. The Government has overseen unprecedented levels of additional investment into our health services in recent years. Funding on a like-for-like basis, excluding disabilities, has risen by €7.4 billion from 2019 to 2024. This is equivalent to an average annual increase of 9% in spending. This investment has facilitated considerable expansion of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Budget 2024 (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Negotiations happen between the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform and the Department of Health, or any other relevant Department. The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform is not going to engage directly with agencies that are under the remit of another Minister. I understand the chief executive of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Budget 2024 (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I agree that investing money in the healthcare system has a positive return on investment. I know the Ministers for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and Health are carefully reading the words of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council on that. To give an example of the words following that, the Department of Heath agreed to regrade public health doctors to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: National Strategic Objective, NSO, 8 relates to the transition to a low carbon and climate-resilient society. The next decade is critical in order to address the climate crisis and we have significantly stepped up our climate ambition by committing to reduce our overall greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Action Plan 2023, which was published in December 2022, sets out the actions,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: That is a very detailed supplementary question. The Deputy will appreciate that I do not have all the details to hand. I could not do justice to the question by answering it orally right now but I will provide all the column headings according to all the questions the Deputy has asked and will give him in tabulated form the answer to his question in consultation with my colleague, Deputy...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The one-stop shops are now up to speed. We have delivered double the number of retrofits in this period of the year compared to the same period last year. We need to do that. The retrofit programme for the decade involves an exponential increase in the number of retrofits being delivered until we reach 500,000 homes retrofitted by 2030. We cannot do that without having a large programme...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The Government has committed to €165 billion in capital investment through the NDP, which was published in 2021. As a percentage of national income, annual capital investment is now among the largest in the EU. In 2023, almost €13 billion will fund vital infrastructure in areas such as housing, transport, education, enterprise, sport and climate action. Achieving value for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Earlier this evening I spoke about the ESRI review. Part of the renaming of the Department to include NDP delivery involves asking an external agency to look at the exact question the Deputy asked, namely, what the barriers are to NDP delivery. We have asked the ESRI to assess what constraints we are reaching, what capacity constraints we have, what changes we might need to make and how to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (28 Nov 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I will start with Deputy Durkan. Certainly, there are some types of investment that are deflationary, such as providing more housing for example. The delivery of the projects can help reduce inflation. There is a wide variety of inflationary effects depending on what you are investing in, and how much labour is involved is a part of it. That is the analysis we are looking at. I think...