Results 2,561-2,580 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I deal with procurement, e-government, chief information officer, IT, that kind of stuff.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The longer the title, the less important the position, I think.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: It is the Office of Government Procurement so procurement policy, yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I will answer this from the point of view of e-government. I am responsible for e-government policy and making sure that people can access their records online. Of course it is up to the Minister and the Department of Health to deliver on that. Health is an incredibly important part and that question is very good and very fair. As people move through their lives they see a variety of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Yes, we are. The reason is that it is better for the patients and is better for the doctors.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I expect their app will be launched later this year. It is already in the pilot phase. I have been given a demonstration of it. The agency is working on it but, again, it is about the balance, as Deputy Tóibín stated earlier, between too much optimism and over-cautiousness. If the people working in the health service are too worried that they are going to deliver something-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: About how accommodation was procured during the pandemic? Does the Cathaoirleach mean, for example, for isolation and so on?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: During an emergency, the normal procurement rules do not apply. One does try to get the best value for money but does not have to go through the full formal process. That makes sense. If one is in the middle of a pandemic and lives are at stake, one obviously has to act at speed and get the best price one can. For the Cathaoirleach's information, the leasing and acquisition of property is...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I absolutely agree. The sums of money involved are very large. It is important that we are getting value for money. It is also important that we are stuck with what made sense during an emergency and rolling it forward for years. The Government made a clear decision at Cabinet recently to move away from emergency provision of accommodation and towards a more structured or planned approach.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Any kind of Government administration or procurement system like that should absolutely be fair to the participants. It should be transparent and so on. I accept that. I am not aware that companies went all the way through the process, only to receive an email to say no at the end. If the Cathaoirleach wants me to follow that up with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I would be happy to look into any specific issue the Cathaoirleach has.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I would like to know more of the details of that specific project before I comment on it. I accept that the system should be fair-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: -----and transparent and, in general, it should tell people the reasons for a project not proceeding.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Regarding the State being taken advantage of by wealthy of conglomerates, most of our procurement goes to SMEs and Irish companies. That is the reality of procurement in Ireland. Where there are large amounts of money involved, there will always be some small number of participants that try to defraud the system. There is also the possibility of multiple bidders colluding so that they...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Pension Provisions (14 Feb 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator Craughwell for bringing this important matter to the House. As the Senator will be aware, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has overall policy responsibility in relation to public service occupational pension schemes payable to retired public servants. For all new entrants to the public service on or after 6 April 1995, the date of the introduction of full social insurance for...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Pension Provisions (14 Feb 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Retired members of An Garda and the Defence Forces are entitled not just to respect from the State but also to great gratitude for what they have done, and they should always be treated with dignity in dealings with the State after they have served. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has acknowledged that there is a problem and that the interaction with the Department of Social Protection and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Road Projects (14 Feb 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator Ahearn. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding regarding the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015 and in line with the national development plan, NDP, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Road Projects (14 Feb 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The Minister is very keen to reduce traffic in the centre of towns. He is also keen to look at ways, including putting in bypasses or any type of local projects that can help in that way. I take the Senator’s point that he wants Clonmel to be treated in the same way that Tipperary town and that he would like it to be prioritised compared with the rest of the scheme. I will bring...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Aviation Industry (14 Feb 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator Boylan for raising this matter, which I am taking ,on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers. The use of private jets during the climate emergency for leisure and luxury is clearly an obscenity. However, such use is mixed up in the general figures for aviation, as the Senator understands, in the context of everything that is not a commercial flight. It...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Aviation Industry (14 Feb 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator Boylan and I am glad that she agrees that we should be looking at emissions rather than passenger numbers and at emissions per capita. I will look to see whether I can get a good breakdown of general aviation so we are not mixing up private jets with medical flights, cargo and so on. Much of this debate emerged with a provocative and noisy campaign by Ryanair saying it would...