Results 2,481-2,500 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy. I agree with what he is trying to do here. I want to see a clear and legal path towards decarbonisation for Gas Networks Ireland. It is worth examining and clarifying the powers of the CRU to direct gas connections and so on. However, this Bill is a simple transfer of functions from Ervia to Gas Networks Ireland. That is the scope of the Bill. We can discuss these...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Taking these two amendments together, I remind the committee that Gas Networks Ireland is a relevant body under the climate Act and will continue to be. That should not be changed by this transfer of functions from Ervia to Gas Networks Ireland. As a relevant body, Gas Networks Ireland is required to perform its functions in a manner that is consistent with the most recently approved...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy Leddin. We can look at that. It is a novel proposal that Gas Networks Ireland would be banned from advertising or promoting new gas connections. I will look at it and come back to the Deputy on it in January.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 7: In page 13, between lines 5 and 6, to insert the following: “(c) by the insertion of the following section after section 8A: “Conferring of functions in relation to telecommunications infrastructure on Board 8B.(1) Subject to subsection (2), the majority-shareholding Minister may by order confer on the Board the function to develop, maintain and...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: This amendment relates directly to the function and mandate of Gas Networks Ireland. While I thank the Deputy for submitting it, as mentioned previously this is a technical Bill that provides only for integration of Ervia into Gas Networks Ireland. It does not consider any new role or additional functions or mandate for Gas Networks Ireland. The implementation of the European directive on...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: This is a narrow piece of legislation. It carries out a particular function and transfers functions from one entity to another, which is the dissolution of Ervia and the transfer of powers from Ervia to Gas Networks Ireland. I do not think this Bill is the appropriate vehicle for these changes or amendments. The gas package includes regulations and a directive. The regulations will become...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I take that on board.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I agree that we should have a roadmap for the decarbonisation of gas and how we are going to implement the gas package. I am happy to come back in January and do that with the committee.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: These amendments cover matters such as safety standards for pipelines, the effect of gas infrastructure on the natural environment and the decarbonisation of the gas network. Again, we are looking at the path for Gas Networks Ireland to decarbonise in line with other sectors in the economy. It must be said again that this is a technical Bill providing for the transfer of functions from a...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (7 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: An effective transition to a circular economy in Ireland will transform the way materials and resources are consumed, and how the products that households and businesses use are designed and marketed. It will also prevent waste generation, reduce consumption, and extend the productive life of goods. Delivering a circular economy will ensure a focus and increased consumer awareness on the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Waste Management (13 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. In Ireland, with the exception of one or two municipal districts, local authorities have all but exited the household market because, in most cases, they could not compete with the prices charged by private entrants. The obligations on local authorities in relation to collecting household waste are set out in the Waste Management Act 1996, as...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Waste Management (13 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Yes.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Waste Management (13 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I completely agree that this should be discussed at the joint committee. I do not think we have enough time here to work it all out. Several different things arise. The first thing concerns what exactly remunicipalisation is. Does it mean that a council hires workers directly, buys bin trucks and goes back to where it was in the past? Does it mean it would outsource the collection to one...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Bus Services (13 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy Smith for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I want to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Bus Services (13 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy Smith. Deputy Smith mentioned Jarrett Walker. I remember meeting him with other councillors back in 2016. There has been an extensive period of consultation to try to figure out how we make a better bus route. Many of the bus routes in Ireland are based on the original tram routes, and not electric trams but horse-drawn trams. They even have the same route numbers and...

Increased Fossil Fuel Divestment: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (13 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Chair and Deputies. I also acknowledge and thank Deputy Pringle for the Act in 2018 and the work done on this, and for tabling this motion to discuss how we can further improve on it. I also think today is a historic day. We have news this morning about work done by a group of Irish officials - civil servants who worked night and day in Dubai - to reach a deal to limit climate...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Irish Aid (14 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am appalled by the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the scale of civilian casualties with more than 18,000 people killed and approximately 1.9 million people or 85% of the population displaced. The Government utterly condemned the heinous attacks by Hamas on 7 October, which saw 1,200 Israelis brutally killed. The Government continues to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Irish Aid (14 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I think the focus at the moment is to achieve peace, to achieve first an immediate and lasting ceasefire and then second to provide humanitarian access into Gaza. Our focus at the moment is not on recovering lost sums of money, damaged property or interrupted projects, as distressing as that may be. The first priority has to be to achieve peace. I agree with the Senator. Although Israel,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Cultural Institutions (14 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Acting Chair and Senator Warfield. I will provide an overview on reimagining the National Library of Ireland, NLI, capital development project under the national development plan as the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, cannot be with us today. On completion the project will be the most significant investment in the National Library of Ireland since the main building on Kildare...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Cultural Institutions (14 Dec 2023)

Ossian Smyth: As I have outlined, eight elements of the NLI redevelopment have been completed. The planning permission process is being worked through for the next element but until the library has permission and until it is approved by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, we will not know when construction is going to start. It is obviously a particular...